Lille without José Fonte, Edon Zhegrova and Alexsandro against Marseille | OneFootball

Speaking ahead of Lille‘s match against Marseille on Saturday evening, assistant coach Jorge Maciel – who was standing in for Paulo Fonseca – confirmed that Les Dogues would be without José Fonte and Alexsandro Ribeiro due to suspension. He also confirmed Edon Zhegrova would sit the game out with a thigh injury he sustained in Lille’s victory against Reims.

When asked about the availability of players and who might feature in the match in his press conference, Maciel laughed: “It will be simpler, there is less choice!”. The Portuguese assistant coach confirmed that younger players from the academy would be brought into the first team in the absence of Fonte, Zhegrova and Alexsandro.

With Tiago Djaló also out with injury, Lille are now likely to start 17-year-old Lenny Yoro and Bafodé Diakite at the heart of the defence against OM. Les Dogues will also be without Alan Viriginuis, who has left for France duty in the U20 World Cup.

This growing list of absentees comes at a difficult time for Lille, as they look to leapfrog Rennes in the race for Europe and claim Ligue 1’s final qualification spot in the final rounds of the season.

GFFN | Liam Wraith