Two high flying sides face off for the second time this month as Lille host Milan in the Europa League at 17:55, hoping they can dismantle a strong team forged by current head coach Stefano Pioli and hold their place at the top of the Group H.
Lille and Milan have both been performing exceptionally well at the start of the 20/21 season surprising many with how ruthless they have both been. Lille sit second in Ligue 1 whilst Milan hold firm two points clear at the top of Serie A, either side will be hoping to continue their superb form and qualify for the next stages of the competition.
This will be the second time this month that these two teams will play each other with the last meeting occurring only 21 days ago. Though Lille got the better hand of Milan on that occasion with a 3-0 win the Rossoneri will be hungry to prove their critics wrong and pull further ahead away from fellow Group H rivals Sparta Prague and Celtic.
Head to head
As briefly mentioned in the section before the last time these two teams played one another was on the 5th November 2020 which ended in an excellent 3-0 win for Lille. There has only been two other occasions in which the two sides have had the pleasure of meeting, both times occurring in the Champions League. Lille have the upper hand historically over Milan winning 2-0 at the San Siro Stadium in 2006 and drawing with no goals involved in the reverse fixture.
Players to watch
Lille - Yusuf Yazıcı 🇹🇷 Turkish twenty three year old forward Yazici has to be considered one of the surprise standout players of the season so far. The twenty seven time capped international had only one goal to his name in 2019/20 for Lille but has exploded with 9 goals and 2 assists in 13 games this season. He leads the Europa League top scoring charts with 6 goals thanks to his wonder of a left foot and agile work on the ball. Recent reports have linked him with a move to Arsenal however he will surely hoping to continue his explosive start to the season in the meantime at Lille. One more goal would match his all time season record of ten which he last achieved in thirty five matches during the 17/18 campaign whilst playing in Turkey.
Milan - Zlatan Ibrahimović 🇸🇪 Perhaps a player who needs no introduction or further comments at all the Swedish legend Ibrahimović has already put himself in the history books. The striker who turned thirty nine last month has scored 10 goals this season all in the Italian top division. He is therefore the divisions top scorer but has failed to score a goal in both of Milans Europa League fixtures, something he will surely try to rid himself of in today's fixture. He is leading Milan this season with great conviction and has since his return to the club added much needed leadership and experience to a young new look Rossoneri team.
Note to reader, Zlatan has not been included to play against Lille however Jens Petter Hauge is one to keep an eye on as he is starting the match today. He scored his first Milan goal last game against Napoli and is a highly rated player coming out of Norway.
Managers thoughts
Milan assistant Daniele Bonera spoke to the press before the match and will lead the side due to manager Pioli self isolating after teasing positive for coronavirus. He did however have much to say ahead of the match “Winning is good for everyone’s morale. We are about to face a very strong team that caused us problems in the first leg, and they are not surprisingly second in the league and first in this Europa League group. They have quality players in attack. In the first leg, we made some technical and tactical mistakes that we will try not to make tomorrow."
Lille manager Christophe Galtier spoke calmly about his side "They seem in form. Their good mood is also linked to our position in the competition. And then they had a good match against Lorient (4-0, Sunday). They do not seem tired but you know… sometimes before a match it is a catastrophe in training and the next day you have a nice surprise in the match."
Preview analysis
The fixture to watch in the Europa league this Thursday is certainly this one, both teams are on blistering form and are competing with one another for the top spot in the group. Milan who are yet to lose in the league will be keen to win their first game against Lille and the likes of Theo Hernández who has had an excellent start to the season will be crucial. The threat of Jonathon Davids and Yusuf Yazıcı in the Lille forward line could be too much yet again and with a strong spine including goal keeper Mike Maignan and experienced defender José Fonte it will certainly be a task for Milan to break down the French side.
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