Lille vs Sturm Graz Prediction & Betting Tips (14 March)

Large leader of its Conference League group during the fall, Lille was able to easily beat Slovan Bratislava, Olimpja Ljubljana and Klaksvik to avoid going through play-offs which could have been tricky. Qualified directly for these 1/8th finals therefore, the Mastiffs did not make details during the first leg by winning very largely in Austria last week 0-3 before making a big difference before this return match. In the league, the Dogues had won 2 of their last 3 Ligue 1 matches against Le Havre 3-0, Toulouse lost 3-1 and Reims 0-1 and they snatched an almost unexpected draw against Rennes 2-2 to stay in the race for the podium. For its part, Sturm Graz finished in 3rd position in its Europa League group behind Sporting Portugal and Atalanta but ahead of Rakow.

Reversed in the play-offs of the Conference League, the Austrians were quite easily able to dismiss Slovan Bratislava who had nevertheless finished in 2nd in the Lille pool precisely by dominating the Slovaks in the first leg 4-1 and in the return 0-1. At the same time, Christian Ilzer's players are still in the race for the title, in battle with RB Salzburg who are 4 units ahead. Quite easy to defeat Tirol 0-2 and Wolfsberger 4-0, they were however held to a draw by Hartberg last weekend 1-1.

A priori, coach Paulo Fonseca will have to deal with the absences of Samuel Umtiti, new recruit Andrej Ilic, replacement wingers Ounas and Ivan Cavaleiro, and the still little-used Fernandes, Miramon and Morais. On the other hand, the very important midfielder Bentaleb makes his return after being suspended during the first leg. Author of another very good match last Thursday, the Canadian Jonathan David scored a double. He has now scored 19 goals in all competitions this season, including 12 in the league. Right winger Edon Zhegrova (3 goals, 5 assists in L1) also found the fault in this match. Opposite, the starting goalkeeper Kjell Scherpen, the Norwegian striker Seedy Jatta (on the flank since the match against Sporting Portugal on December 14), the promising Borkovic and the replacement midfielder Serrano.

Out injured in the first leg, winger Sarkaria could also be absent from the group this week. Among the forces present, we should find the young scorer, Mika Biereth, author of 2 goals during the 2 Conference League play-off matches against Slovan Bratislava. He has also scored 6 times in 8 games since arriving from Arsenal on loan at the end of January. Number 10, Otar Kiteishvili will also be one to watch with 6 goals and 5 assists in all competitions.