French visitors just the ticket for Valencia

A seventh successive home win against French opponents is the aim for Valencia CF in UEFA Europa League Group B, but LOSC Lille Métropole will progress through to the last 32 if they can cause an upset.

• Lille top the section going into Matchday 5, a point clear of Valencia and Genoa CFC, who are level on six points each. SK Slavia Praha are bottom of the section with two points but can still qualify.

Previous meetings
• The sides drew 1-1 in France in their first European meeting on Matchday 1. Lille have yet to win in Spain, recording a draw and two defeats on their previous visits. Valencia have won all six of their home games against Ligue 1 sides, scoring 15 goals and conceding two.

Match background
• Valencia are unbeaten over 90 minutes in their last 16 UEFA club competition games since a 2-0 loss at home to Rosenborg BK in the UEFA Champions League group stage on 6 November 2007. They are yet to taste defeat in 14 European outings under Unai Emery.

• Valencia are unbeaten in their last eight European home encounters, although five of those matches ended in draws.

• A 3-2 reverse at Genoa on Matchday 4 ended a run of three straight away victories for Lille. They have registered at least twice in all of their games on their travels this season.

Team facts
• Formerly a left-sided midfielder, Valencia coach Emery started his career with Real Sociedad de Fútbol but largely played in the lower divisions before a serious knee injury prompted a move into coaching at Lorca Deportiva CF in 2004. He graduated to a position at UD Almería in 2006, with Valencia taking him on as a replacement for Ronald Koeman in 2008.

• Lille coach Rudi Garcia represented the club as a midfielder in the 1980s, prior to spells with SM Caen and FC Martigues. His coaching career has seen him take charge of AS Saint-Etienne, Dijon FCO and Le Mans UC 72, before he returned to Lille in 2008.

• With regular Lille No1 Mickaël Landreau out with a long-term injury, Ludovic Butelle lined up against his former club on Matchday 1. Having joined Valencia from FC Metz in 2004, the 26-year-old played in nine Spanish Liga games for the Mestalla outfit but joined Les Dogues this summer after a successful season-long loan. Now fit again, Landreau is likely to be in goal for this latest encounter.

• The clubs share a famous old boy in former France right-back Jocelyn Angloma, who represented Lille from 1987-90 and later played for Valencia between 1997 and 2002. He was on the losing side with Valencia in the 2000 and 2001 UEFA Champions League finals.

• The current Valencia squad also boasts French talent in the form of left-back Jérémy Mathieu, who joined the club from Toulouse FC this summer.

• Lille captain Rio Mavuba played for Valencia's local rivals Villarreal CF in the 2007/08 season.

• Lille's Gervinho is one of six players topping the UEFA Europa League top scorers' standings with four goals along with Claudio Pizarro (Werder Bremen), Fernando Llorente (Athletic Club Bilbao), Óscar Cardozo (SL Benfica), Alexander Frei (FC Basel 1893) and Luiz Adriano (FC Shakhtar Donetsk).

• Lille are at their most dangerous in the final stages of games. Of their eleven group-stage goals to date, seven have been scored after the 76th minute.

• Valencia's Group B campaign concludes at Genoa on 17 December. Lille host Slavia on the same night.