Everton v Lille Osc - Nov 6th 2014 - 20:05pm

Everton are back in home Europa League action on Thursday evening, with Lille the visitors to Goodison Park.

To help build up to our fourth game in this season’s competition, we have enlisted the help of France football expert Matt Spiro.

Matt, a commentator and presenter for BeIN Sports’ Ligue 1 Show, has offered an insight into Lille’s season so far and what he believes Everton can expect later this week…

Lille finished third in Ligue 1 last season but are struggling in 12th place in the table at the moment. What do you think are the reasons for this?

Last season, Lille over-performed slightly. They were over-reliant on an outstanding goalkeeper and a solid defence, and their strong point remains those three at the back; Simon Kjaer, Marko Basa and Vincent Enyeama. They won a lot of games 1-0. Manager Rene Girard has been hoping that Marvin Martin would grow into the role of playmaker but he hasn't quite lived up to expectations since he arrived at Lille in 2012.

This season there have been some very impressive performances from Marcos Lopes since he arrived on loan from Manchester City and Lille’s downturn in form recently coincided with his injury. The forwards Ronny Rodelin, Divock Origi and Nolan Roux should have enough about them to get goals but Lille have not been an inventive enough team so far. They need to find that creative spark.

How are Everton perceived amongst French football fans?

People in France watch a lot of Premier League football and Everton’s improvement in the last few years has definitely been noted. I wouldn’t guess that any French fans could name the entire Everton starting XI on Thursday but they certainly know they are a good team who are playing a lot of attractive, attacking football. The draw at home was seen as a good result for Lille because there is definitely a lot of respect for Everton.



How did you assess the goalless draw between the teams in France a fortnight ago? And how do you expect Girard to set his team up on Thursday?

It was one of Lille’s best performances this season and they did create a lot more in that game than they usually do, even though it finished 0-0.

Three draws from three games has left Lille in a difficult situation in the group going to Everton, because I think they will do well to get a draw or win at Goodison. I do think Rene Girard will set his team up to be defensive and Lille’s best chance is to stay solid and play on the counter-attack.

He went with a 4-4-2 at the weekend, with Michael Frey and Origi through the middle, which was quite unusual for Lille. It had reasonably positive consequences, but that was a home game against St Etienne, which finished in a 1-1 draw.

Going to Everton, I think he will play one up top and two pacey players out wide, with the usual midfield trio. That’s how they have regularly played, going back to their title-winning season of 2010/11. They had Rio Mavuba and Florent Balmont, who they still have now, with Yohan Cabaye the other player in that midfield.

What is your prediction for Thursday night’s game then?

I think, at Goodison, Everton are going to have too much for Lille. I can see a 2-0 or 3-1 kind of scoreline.