Lille face difficult task

Debuchy blow
On Saturday, Lille were held by the same score against FC Girondins de Bordeaux and are in 13th place in Ligue 1. Their hopes of going through to the UEFA Cup have been hit by the broken hand suffered by midfield player Mathieu Debuchy, though coach Claude Puel is confident they can continue scoring goals away from home, as they did in the previous rounds against NK Slaven Belupo and FC Dinamo Minsk.

Puel hopeful
"I hope we'll score again," said Puel. "The Portuguese will be favourites in front of their home crowd but they will have to make the play a little bit more to score and that could provide us with some interesting counterattacks."

Fatigue sets in
After beginning their season in July, Lille are feeling tired, according to Puel. They have lost Bulgarian striker Vladimir Manchev, who has moved to Spain's Levante UD, but can call upon Greek defender Stathis Tavlaridis who has been released from the army.

Late decisions
Leiria will make a late decision on the fitness of midfield players Hugo Cunha, Faria and Ricardo Coelho as well as forward Mário Carlos. They have all been on a special training programme but coach Vitor Pontes remains hopeful they can play some part.

Felício's warning
Brazilian striker Fábio Felício believes Lille will make it hard for them and said: "Leiria will have to play an intelligent game. Lille are a very strong team and now it's time to take some precautions. We want to win and we will have to go for it.

'No dreams'
"Ball circulation and possession will be essential so that we can strike in the right moment. And also trying to avoid making mistakes, so that our opponent cannot have the slightest chance of even dreaming of beating us.

'Lots of patience'
"The team will need lots of patience because we know we will face eleven players behind the ball, just waiting for the chance to cash in on a Leiria mistake."