Reims vs Lille 30/08/20

30 August 2020

Reims welcome Lille to the Stade Auguste-Delaune for a potentially low-scoring Ligue 1 affair. All five of their previous top-flight H2Hs have featured under 2.5 goals.

Reims blew a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Monaco away from home in the Ligue 1 curtain-raiser, meaning they are now unbeaten in five league matches, last season included (W3, D2). Having lost just two from 14 Ligue 1 home games before the coronavirus outbreak curtailed the 2019/20 season (W5, D7), the hosts were almost impenetrable the last term. Indeed, no team had conceded fewer home goals than Reims (7) in 2019/20, with David Guion’s side keeping eight clean sheets in 14 top-flight home outings before the pandemic gripped football. There’s no reason for ‘Les Rouges et Blancs’ not to extend that impressive record here, given they’ve shut out Lille in three of their six Ligue 1 H2Hs held at this venue, conceding precisely once per match in the other three.

On the other hand, Lille took a 1-0 advantage into the half-time against Rennes on the opening matchday only to be pegged back 16 minutes before the final whistle. However, the visitors enjoyed a stellar end to the last season, winning all three of their closing Ligue 1 fixtures of 2019/20 ‘to nil.’ The ‘clean-sheet’ theme, indeed, remains vital to Lille’s hopes of winning, considering three of their four away league victories last season saw them shut out their hosts. Yet, a lack of ruthlessness up front had seen ‘Les Dogues’ net a miserly average of 0.84 goals per Ligue 1 trips before the last season was canceled.