Lille-Rijeka is a match valid for the first leg of the Conference League qualifying playoffs and is played Thursday at 8 p.m.: predictions.
The continental adventure of Paulo Fonseca’s Lille also begins from the play-offs, as they rediscover Europe after a year in which they were only involved in domestic competitions.
In the last championship, the Dogues, coached by the former Roma coach, finished in fifth place, which would have been worth qualifying for the Europa League if only in the Coupe de France a team ranked among the top five had triumphed. And instead, the cup was surprisingly won by Toulouse, which came in the right side of the standings but qualified directly for the second most important continental event as the holder of the second most prestigious trophy beyond the Alps. Lille, therefore, which will have to “settle” for the Conference League: before accessing the group stage for David and his teammates there is a tough playoff against the Croatians of Rijeka, who will have the small but significant advantage of playing the return match away from home. Fonseca and his men, meanwhile, got off on the right foot in Ligue 1. After snatching a good point in their direct clash with Nice in the opener (1-1), Lille got the better of Nantes 2-0 last Sunday, earning their first three points of the season.
Earthquake on the Rijeka bench
In goal, in addition to former Neapolitan Ounas, the Canadian center forward. Who, for now, despite market rumors about his imminent transfer, is still in France
Djouahra of Rijeka
He will also take the field against Rijeka, which has played far more official matches than Lille. The club from the Adriatic city has already accumulated several minutes: in the league they are third behind Hajduk Split and Osijek (three wins and one loss in the first four days) while in the cup they had to overcome Dukagjini and B36 Torshavn, scoring 12 goals in total while conceding only two. Rijeka’s excellent start convinced Dinamo Zagreb, which just exonerated the coach after elimination from the Champions League preliminaries, to bet on Sergej Jakirovic, who just in the last few hours became the new coach of the reigning Croatian champions. No small shock for Rijeka on the eve of a double challenge that could be worth the season.
The Prediction
Lille at home tend to make very few mistakes and in this match they could take advantage of the confusion at Rijeka after the unexpected separation of coach Jakirovic. The French should come out on top in a contest of at least three goals overall.
The likely lineups for Lille-Rijeka
- LILLE (4-2-3-1): Chevalier; Tiago Santos, Diakité, Alexsandro, Ismaily; Angel Gomes, André; Zhegrova, Cabella, Haraldsson; David.
- RIJEKA (4-2-3-1): Labrovic; Smolcic, Galesic, Radeljic, Goda; Selahi, Lepinjica; Pasalic, Fruk, Jankovic; Ivanovic.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 3-1
