Under the lights at Lille, Davide Ancelotti has shuffled his side for Saturday’s Ligue 1 visit of bottom club Le Havre, handing a first appearance of the campaign to Tanguy Nianzou and restoring Nabil Bentaleb after his international absence.
The move
Lille host Le Havre at 17:15 in the sixth round of Ligue 1 with a notably changed 4-2-3-1. Olivier Giroud leads the line and wears the captain’s armband, while Nianzou starts in central defence for the first time this season.
The 24-year-old defender joined LOSC from Sevilla during the summer and is included from the outset in place of a more familiar selection. Benjamin André, Lille’s usual captain in midfield, begins the match among the substitutes.
Bentaleb is also back in Ancelotti’s starting XI. The Algeria midfielder had withdrawn from international duty because of a healing issue, but is fit enough to face Le Havre.
- Olivier Giroud: Lille captain and starting striker.
- Tanguy Nianzou: making his first Lille appearance of the season.
- Nabil Bentaleb: returns to the starting side after missing Algeria duty.
- Benjamin André: regular Lille captain, named on the bench.
The French season around it
Giroud, who turned 40 on 30 September, makes his fourth Ligue 1 start of the season. He had previously come off the bench in Lille’s 2-0 victory over Troyes on 13 September and in the 2-1 defeat at Nice a week later.
For Bentaleb, the Lille return follows an interrupted Algeria window. Algeria beat Zambia 3-1 on 25 September, before drawing 2-2 with Burundi on 29 September in qualifying for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.
Le Havre arrive in the north sitting last in the Ligue 1 table, with Lille looking to make their reshaped side count at home.
