Lille OSC vs Paris Saint Germain - PSG defender Thiago Silva stresses importance of cutting Nice's Ligue 1 lead

Posted Thursday, October 27, 2016 by PA

Paris St Germain will look to get back to winning ways and close the gap on Ligue 1 leaders Nice when they take on Lille on Friday night.

The four-time defending champions slipped six points behind Nice after being held to a goalless draw by Marseille last weekend.

Although it is still early in the season, defender Thiago Silva does not want the gap to grow any bigger.

He told PSG TV: "Lille are a side who play well at home. They will try to make things tough for us, but that's to be expected. We need to get back to playing our own game and get back to winning ways in Ligue 1.

"It's important, because we're six points adrift of Nice. We don't want to let them get away from us."

While not up to their recent standards, PSG's start to the season has at least been a lot better than Lille's.

After losing in Europa League qualifying, Lille took just four points from their opening seven Ligue 1 games and briefly sat bottom of the table.

However, two wins from their last three games has lifted them up to 16th and eased the sense of crisis.

Defender Franck Beria told the club website: "I think we deserve better than our current position in terms of the quality of our squad.

"Now our ranking is a reflection of our collective performance at this moment. Fortunately, the victory against Bastia (last weekend) will allow us to work a little more calmly.

"We will face Paris St Germain and it's a little clash of opposites in terms of ranking. It is therefore the right time to galvanize us to enable us to seek what is best in us."

Lille have not been helped by significant injury problems, and they will again be without Junior Tallo, Marko Basa, Rony Lopes, Ryan Mendes, Nicolas de Preville, Eric Bautheac and Mounir Obbadi.