Lille Starts Giroud Nianzou and Bentaleb Against Le Havre

Lille faced Le Havre on Saturday, October 10, 2026, at 5:15 p.m. in Ligue 1 at Decathlon Arena Stade Pierre-Mauroy, with Olivier Giroud, Tanguy Nianzou and Nabil Bentaleb starting as coach Davide Ancelotti reshuffled the lineup.

According to L'Équipe, Lille used a 4-2-3-1 formation against Le Havre, with Giroud captaining the team in attack. Nianzou made his first appearance of the season after joining from Sevilla FC this summer.

L'Équipe reported that Bentaleb returned to the starting lineup after missing international duty with Algeria because of a healing issue. He had been unavailable during Algeria's matches in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Giroud, who turned 40 on September 30, started his fourth Ligue 1 match of the season, according to L'Équipe. He had previously entered as a substitute against Troyes and Nice.

The Lille lineup featured Özer, T. Santos, Nianzou, Alexsandro, Perraud, Mukau, Bentaleb, G. Perrin, Bakwa, Kjaergaard and Giroud as captain, according to L'Équipe.

Le Havre started with Gallon, Seko, M. Ndiaye, Touba, R. Ndiaye as captain, Ebonog, Richardson, Ouziad, S. Nakamura, Maja and Samatta, according to L'Équipe.

Before the match, Le Petit Lillois reported that Lille entered the fixture fourth in Ligue 1 with 10 points, while Le Havre sat 18th with two points. The match followed Lille's defeat to Nice before the international break.

A poll by Le Petit Lillois showed strong support among Lille fans, with 343 voters backing the home side. The poll recorded 325 votes for a Lille win, 16 for a draw and two for a defeat.

Le Petit Lillois also reported that Opta's prediction model gave Lille a 63.2 percent chance of winning, compared with 20.4 percent for a draw and 16.4 percent for a Le Havre victory.

During the match, Eurosport reported a major Le Havre chance when Ndiaye delivered a cross from the left and Maja failed to convert inside the penalty area against Lille goalkeeper Özer.