Get ready for the return leg of the Europa League 16th Finals between Lille and Ajax. This should be an interesting match and this preview contains everything you need to know. Read on!
The hosts Lille saw competitive action as recent as four days ago, playing in the Ligue 1. This match was also played here at Stade Pierre-Mauroy. With two consecutive home games the intense schedule is somewhat softened. Still, Ajax have had more rest.
Lille form and stats
Lille participated in Champions League the last season, where they reached the group stage.28 points is a decent return from 13 Ligue 1 games here at Stade Pierre-Mauroy for Lille. The data says 8 wins, 4 draws and 1 loss. This match is a Europa League match, and the hometeam has the total statistics 3 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss in this competition.
Defensively the home team are doing well, with their goalkeeper Mike Maignan not having conceded a league goal in 504 minutes.
The home supporters saw a 0-0 draw versus Brest in the Ligue 1 last time out and are looking for a win here. In the game before, an away victory in the Coupe de France match versus Dijon with a 1-0 scoreline.
The bookmakers consider this a fairly even contest. One could say only the home advantage separates the teams. It could be relevant to look at how Lille have performed in matches similar to this (as small favourites). Our database has found two matches with the results: Won one, drawn one and lost zero.
The manager C. Galtier will start preparations for the next game as soon this is finished, as the hosts are going to Lorient in only three days.
Lille have proved capable of finding the net in their games here at Stade Pierre-Mauroy with 21 goals in 13 league matches. From these home matches, Lille have conceded only 7 goals. It's worth mentioning that 4 of these goals has been conceded in their last 3 home matches.
Ajax form and stats
Last season their Europa League adventure ended in the 16th finals.The away performances of Ajax have been very solid so far with 9 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat in the Eredivisie. The question is whether this happy travelling can continue. In general it has been a productive period now for Ajax as they haven't lost any of their last ten games. Ajax are enjoying a nice run from their away games now, having played nine in a row without losing.
208 minutes! That's how long the Ajax goalkeeper Andre Onana and his defense have shut out their league opponents.
Ajax play their second away game in a row, but can be confident going into this one after the 2-0 victory visiting Heracles. That result followed a home victory 2-1 versus PSV in the KNVB Beker.
So, this is expected to be a close game, an even contest. Looking at earlier matches with Ajax playing away and similar expectations, we found three relevant matches. Results were two Ajax wins, zero draws and one defeat.
After this away game Ajax return home for a Eredivisie game against Sparta Rotterdam. That game is only three sleeps after this.
The Ajax manager E. ten Hag has seen his team go crazy on the road this season, having scored 37 goals in 11 league matches away. Ajax are defending well in their away games, having conceded only 6 times in 11 matches. For more goal statistics, check out the Statistics tab above. There's been improvement defensively lately, as only -1 of these goals has been conceded in their last 3 away matches.
Head 2 Head
Lille-Ajax H2H statistics last two meetings regardless of arena: Lille zero wins, Ajax two wins, zero draws. one of these two matches had three or more goals (over 2,5).Top Goalscorers
  D. Tadić 10 goals |   B. Yılmaz 9 goals |  A. dos Santos 8 goals |
Lille missing players
Ajax missing players
| Lille | Ajax | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 12 | Played | P | 13 | 25 | ||
| 15 | 6 | Won | W | 10 | 18 | ||
| 7 | 5 | Drew | D | 2 | 3 | ||
| 3 | 1 | Lost | L | 1 | 4 | ||
| 44 | 18 | Scored | S | 41 | 72 | ||
| 21 | 10 | Conceded | C | 9 | 24 | ||
| 92% | 83% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 100% | ||
| 76% | 75% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 85% | 80% | ||
| 52% | 58% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 69% | 72% | ||
| 24% | 17% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 38% | 48% | ||
| 16% | 0% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 23% | 24% | ||
| 56% | 67% | BTTS | BTTS | 46% | 52% | ||
| 44% | 33% | Clean Sheets | C S | 46% | 36% | ||
| 8% | 17% | Failed to Score | F T | 8% | 12% | ||
| 0 | 0 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2 | 1.9 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.2 | 1.2 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 1 | ||
| 13.2 | 15 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 18.7 | 18 | ||
| 4.6 | 4.8 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 8.5 | 7.6 | ||
| 39% | 32% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 37% | 38% | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Lille | 25 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 42 | 15 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 21 | 7 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 21 | 8 | 27 | 55 |
| 2 | PSG | 25 | 17 | 3 | 5 | 57 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 34 | 6 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 23 | 9 | 42 | 54 |
| 3 | Olympique Lyonnais | 25 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 51 | 22 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 28 | 12 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 23 | 10 | 29 | 52 |
| 4 | Monaco | 25 | 15 | 4 | 6 | 52 | 37 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 30 | 17 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 22 | 20 | 15 | 49 |
| 5 | Rennes | 24 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 31 | 26 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 17 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 38 |
| 6 | Lens | 25 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 35 | 34 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 17 | 17 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 17 | 1 | 37 |
| 7 | Metz | 25 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 29 | 24 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 11 | 5 | 35 |
| 8 | Montpellier | 25 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 41 | 45 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 24 | 27 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 17 | 18 | -4 | 35 |
| 9 | Olympique Marseille | 23 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 29 | 26 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 14 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 14 | 12 | 3 | 34 |
| 10 | Angers SCO | 25 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 30 | 40 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 13 | 17 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 17 | 23 | -10 | 34 |
| 11 | Bordeaux | 25 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 27 | 29 | 13 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 15 | 17 | -2 | 33 |
| 12 | Brest | 25 | 9 | 4 | 12 | 37 | 44 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 24 | 21 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 23 | -7 | 31 |
| 13 | Reims | 25 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 31 | 33 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 20 | 21 | -2 | 29 |
| 14 | Nice | 24 | 8 | 5 | 11 | 28 | 33 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 13 | 22 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 11 | -5 | 29 |
| 15 | Saint-Etienne | 25 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 25 | 36 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 17 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 19 | -11 | 29 |
| 16 | Strasbourg | 25 | 8 | 4 | 13 | 34 | 40 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 14 | 17 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 20 | 23 | -6 | 28 |
| 17 | Lorient | 24 | 6 | 5 | 13 | 30 | 45 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 18 | 21 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 24 | -15 | 23 |
| 18 | Nantes | 25 | 4 | 10 | 11 | 25 | 40 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 19 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 21 | -15 | 22 |
| 19 | Nimes | 24 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 22 | 51 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 12 | 27 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 24 | -29 | 18 |
| 20 | Dijon | 25 | 2 | 9 | 14 | 17 | 38 | 13 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 24 | -21 | 15 |
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Ajax | 21 | 17 | 2 | 2 | 68 | 15 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 31 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 37 | 6 | 53 | 53 |
| 2 | PSV | 22 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 51 | 24 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 6 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 27 | 18 | 27 | 47 |
| 3 | AZ | 22 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 48 | 32 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 21 | 15 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 27 | 17 | 16 | 43 |
| 4 | Vitesse | 22 | 13 | 3 | 6 | 34 | 21 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 17 | 15 | 13 | 42 |
| 5 | Feyenoord | 21 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 42 | 20 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 23 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 19 | 11 | 22 | 41 |
| 6 | FC Groningen | 21 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 29 | 23 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 15 | 15 | 6 | 37 |
| 7 | FC Twente | 22 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 35 | 28 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 15 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 21 | 13 | 7 | 33 |
| 8 | FC Utrecht | 21 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 30 | 28 | 12 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 21 | 16 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 2 | 31 |
| 9 | SC Heerenveen | 22 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 30 | 30 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 11 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 14 | 19 | 0 | 29 |
| 10 | Fortuna Sittard | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 33 | 41 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 17 | 23 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 16 | 18 | -8 | 28 |
| 11 | Heracles | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 24 | 32 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 11 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 21 | -8 | 28 |
| 12 | Sparta Rotterdam | 21 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 30 | 34 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 20 | 23 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 10 | 11 | -4 | 23 |
| 13 | PEC Zwolle | 22 | 4 | 11 | 7 | 26 | 34 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 21 | -8 | 23 |
| 14 | VVV-Venlo | 21 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 35 | 52 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 28 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 20 | 24 | -17 | 22 |
| 15 | RKC Waalwijk | 22 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 19 | 35 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 17 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 18 | -16 | 19 |
| 16 | Willem II | 21 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 24 | 47 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 26 | -23 | 13 |
| 17 | ADO Den Haag | 21 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 47 | 11 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 23 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 24 | -28 | 13 |
| 18 | FC Emmen | 22 | 0 | 6 | 16 | 17 | 51 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 13 | 31 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 20 | -34 | 6 |