Outfoxed yet again by Inter Milan in mid-week, Lille must rally themselves for a home game with promoted Evian on Saturday in which victory would lift them to within three points of the Ligue 1 summit.
A run of three straight wins last month galvanised Lille's French title defence but they have faltered in their last two outings, drawing 0-0 at Valenciennes before Wednesday's 2-1 loss at San Siro.
Defeat at Inter, who had already beaten them 1-0 at Stade Villeneuve d'Ascq, left Lille bottom of Champions League Group B and needing to win their final two group matches to stand any chance of reaching the last 16.
Coach Rudi Garcia complained that Lille paid for a "lack of acceleration in the last 30 yards" and attributed that failing to the fact that his side had had one day less to prepare for the match than their Italian hosts.
Be that as it may, Lille also looked short of ideas at Valenciennes last weekend and anything but victory at home to 14th-placed Evian will raise questions about the champions' durability.
Lille will be without midfielder Florent Balmont (suspended) and centre-back Marko Basa (collarbone), while Evian are missing Christian Poulsen (suspended) but welcome back veteran playmaker Jerome Leroy from suspension.
Defeat at Inter was Lille's first reverse away from home since last April and it is their home form that has proved to be the greatest source of concern to Garcia in Ligue 1.
Lille have won only half of their home games in the league this season, losing to Montpellier and drawing with Sochaux and Lorient, and their average return of 1.83 points per home game is well short of both Lyon (2.67) and league leaders Paris Saint-Germain (2.57).
The fixture list has played in Lille's favour this weekend, however, as their match with Evian is the only game that will take place on Saturday (due to the G20 summit in Cannes), permitting them to close the gap on PSG and second-placed Montpellier.
PSG's trip to Bordeaux is the final game of the weekend and by the time Antoine Kombouare's side take to the pitch at Stade Chaban Delmas on Sunday night, they could find themselves in a share of the lead with Montpellier.
Last season's beaten League Cup finalists will be bidding for a fourth consecutive victory when they visit Saint-Etienne and in new France call-up Olivier Giroud they boast the division's in-form striker.
Third-placed Lyon fell 2-0 at home to Real Madrid on Wednesday but impressed in last weekend's 2-0 derby win over Saint-Etienne and visit Sochaux on Sunday looking, like Lille, to close a six-point gap on PSG.
Paris are on a run of six consecutive victories in the league, while a fine Javier Pastore volley saw them beat Slovan Bratislava 1-0 on Thursday to tighten their hold on second place in Europa League Group F.
"We need to give ourselves one last push before the winter break," said PSG defender Sylvain Armand ahead of the game at Bordeaux.
"It won't be an easy match but tonight's match (against Bratislava) will enable us to prepare for it well."
Marseille's revival continued with an impressive performance in a 0-0 draw at Arsenal in the Champions League on Tuesday and they will bid to continue their charge up the standings at home to Mediterranean neighbours Nice.
"We've not lost for a while (four matches) but we need to be capable of stringing results together in the league," said OM coach Didier Deschamps.
"It'll be important to finish the week well against Nice on Sunday."
Fixtures
Saturday (2000GMT)
Lille v Evian
Sunday (1600GMT unless otherwise stated)
Auxerre v Toulouse, Caen v Dijon, Lorient v Ajaccio, Marseille v Nice, Nancy v Brest, Rennes v Valenciennes, Saint-Etienne v Montpellier, Sochaux v Lyon, Bordeaux v Paris Saint-Germain (2000GMT)
Source: AFP
