Lille vs Brann Prediction: Last year’s home form to help the hosts

Lille begin their Uefa Europa League campaign against SK Brann, who make the trip to Stade Pierre-Mauroy on Thursday (17:45 BST, TNT Sports 4). Les Dogues reached the round of 16 in the Uefa Champions League last season, and they will hope that experience can serve them well this term.

Below you will find my Lille vs Brann predictions, alongside the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Lille are currently without the services of Alexsandro (muscle), Thomas Meunier (groin), Ousmane Toure (cruciate ligament tear) and Marc-Aurele Caillard (elbow) due to various injury issues.

Veteran striker Olivier Giroud has had a lot of joy in this competition, having been involved in 19 goals in his 25 appearances, scoring 15 himself, while finishing as the top goalscorer (11 goals) when Chelsea were crowned champions in 2018/19.

Former Tottenham Hotspur man Nabil Benteleb should feature on Thursday as part of the protective shield in front of Lille's defensive line.

Football Odds

Sakarias Opsahi (unspecified) and Niklas Jensen Wassberg (knee) are injury concerns for Brann heading into this contest.

Niklas Castro, Mads Hansen, Fredrik Pallesen Knudsen and Joachim Soltvedt were all on the scoresheet against AEK Larnaca in their previous qualifying match, and this quartet are set to feature from the off in Lille.

Lille vs Brann Odds

Lille won five of their seven home games in the Champions League last season and they are 4/9 (implied probability of 69.2%) to claim the victory here.

The draw is available at 18/5. Brann are 6/1 to pull off an upset but they are unbeaten in their previous seven away trips across all competitions, winning five of them.

Four of Lille's five Ligue 1 matches this term have produced over 2.5 goals, which is priced at 8/13 for this clash.

Lille and over 2.5 goals @ 1/1

Lille's pedigree in European competition should serve them well in the Europa League, particularly against their Norwegian opponents, who are nowhere near as experienced at this level.

Les Dogues showed they were a force to be reckoned with as they made it through the League Phase of the Champions League in 2024/25, finishing seventh to progress straight through to the round of 16.

They won five of their eight matches to do so, and in a lower level of European competition, they are expected to get through without any issues this season.

The French outfit will look to get off to a bright start and they will be grateful that their campaign starts on home soil, where they had plenty of joy in Europe last year. Five wins from seven was an excellent return and I can envisage them bettering that in the Europa League.

I'm confident that the hosts win this clash and given the form they have had for over 2.5 goals in their Ligue 1 matches so far, this market looks good value at EVS.

Olivier Giroud anytime goalscorer @ 5/4

He may be 38 years of age but Giroud is showing that he's still got it with two goals in four league games for Lille this term. His experience and pedigree in this competition will serve him and his team well this season, and I think 5/4 is a good price for him to open his account in the first match.

The Frenchman was unplayable in this competition with Chelsea several years ago and his goal record speaks for itself. He may be older but he is also wiser and he has adapted his game like many veterans do.

Giroud is still capable of scoring goals at a high level and I think we will see him get on the scoresheet on Thursday evening.

Offers

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