Lille vs. Everton: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info and Preview
In the first of two consecutive meetings between the two clubs, Everton make their way to Lille on Thursday in the hopes that they can keep up strong form in this term's Europa League.
The Toffees have taken four points from their first two Group H fixtures to establish a two-point lead at the summit of their pool, but a home win for Lille this week would be enough to leapfrog the Merseysiders.
The French hosts have lost their last two matches in succession, but a European victory in midweek would do wonders for morale at Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
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Read on for match preview and viewing information of this week's Europa League collision.
Date: Thursday, October 23
Time: 6 p.m. BST/1 p.m. ET
Live Stream: ITV Player (UK), Fox Soccer 2GO (US)
TV Info: ITV 4 (UK), beIN Sports 3 (US)
Key Players to Watch
Lille: Divock Origi
What better way for Divock Origi to enamour himself with the Anfield faithful than to help in demolishing Everton's chances of European success before he's even kicked a ball for his parent club?
The on-loan Liverpool striker has been in superlative form for Lille since signing for his former side on temporary terms. WhoScored.com shows that this season's progress far eclipses any past accomplishments:
One of two high-profile Belgian strikers set to line up in the fixture, Origi will strive to establish some Merseyside dominance by penetrating the Everton defence for what he'll hope isn't the first time.
Roberto Martinez's side have failed to keep a clean sheet in either of their first two group matches, while Origi's opener against Wolfsburg in Lille's last Europa League outing came from the penalty spot.
Everton: Romelu Lukaku
The other Belgian forward to look out for will of course be Romelu Lukaku, who despite undertaking a heavy workload of late could start on Thursday.
Should that be the case, though, Lukaku faces a difficult test. Lille possess the best home defence in Ligue 1 at present, having conceded their first home goals of the campaign over the weekend in a 2-1 defeat against Guingamp.
Martinez's leading man can hope to disrupt that record further, however, having netted as part of a 3-0 win over Aston Villa this past weekend. In his post-match notes, the manager was quoted by the club's official website:
"Goals are always important for strikers. That's his third goal in the league and that's a good number at this stage. But more than anything, I thought it was a really powerful performance from Rom. I've previously said that I don't think he's fully match fit yet and that's going to come.
"
But I thought with the intent he had - he looked powerful, he looked very strong - he was a dangerous focal point for us and that's really pleasing. The goal is a consequence of his good work.
It puts a pressure on Lukaku to perform again under intense pressure, with Thursday's trip to France promising to be one of their most difficult tests in the group phase.
