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This Saturday sees Lens take on Marseille in a Ligue 1 match at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis.
Lens are currently in 7th place in the table, while Marseille are flying high in 3rd place and are looking to push for a Champions League qualifying spot.
So which of these two strong sides will come out on top this weekend?
After flying out of the blocks to begin the current campaign, Lens appeared to be tailing off in the latter stages of 2021. They failed to pick up a win in six matches from November 21 to December 22, ending the year by slipping into 9th place.
However, Franck Haise’s side have picked up their form since 2022 began. They knocked Lille out of the Coupe de France and defeated both Rennes and Saint-Etienne in the league.
The latter victory in particular was dramatic. Lens came from 1-0 down to win 1-2 thanks to a late goal from Florian Sotoca and an injury-time winner from Seko Fofana.
Marseille, meanwhile, have looked like one of the strongest sides in Ligue 1 since the current campaign began back in August.
After going unbeaten in their first seven league games, they fell to back-to-back defeats before going on another unbeaten run of six matches.
Right now, Jorge Sampaoli’s men have not lost in four, but have also only scored five goals in those games.
Lens vs Marseille Head-to-Head
Both teams have won exactly 23 times in the 58 games played across all competitions. There have been 12 draws in that span of games.The most recent meeting between the two sides saw Lens win 2-3, and you’ve got to go back to 2015 to find Marseille’s last win over them.
Lens form guide: W-W-W-L-W
Marseille form guide: D-W-W-D-W
Lens vs Marseille Team News
Lens
Ignatius Ganago and Massadio Haidara are away at the AFCON tournament, while Deiver Machado is a doubt.
Injured: None
Doubtful: Deiver Machado
Suspended: None
Unavailable: Ignatius Ganago, Massadio Haidara
Marseille
Alvaro Gonzalez is a doubt, while Pape Gueye and Bamba Dieng are away at AFCON.
Injured: None
Doubtful: Alvaro Gonzalez
Suspended: None
Unavailable: Pape Gueye, Bamba Dieng
Lens vs Marseille Predicted XI
Lens predicted XI (3-4-3): Jean-Louis Leca; Jonathan Gradit, Kevin Danso, Facundo Medina; Jonathan Clauss, Cheick Doucoure, Seko Fofana, Przemyslaw Frankowski; Arnaud Kalimuendo-Muinga, Florian Sotoca, Wesley Said
Marseille predicted XI (3-4-2-1): Pau Lopez; William Saliba, Duje Caleta-Car, Luan Peres; Cengiz Under, Valentin Rongier, Boubacar Kamara, Amine Harit; Dimitri Payet, Matteo Guendouzi; Cedric Bakambu
Lens vs Marseille Prediction
This should be a close game to call as both sides have been in good form, although Marseille’s struggles in front of goal may become an issue.
Lens have home advantage here and did defeat Marseille earlier in the season. However, Jorge Sampaoli’s side have become one of the league’s stronger outfits, meaning the home side may struggle to replicate the feat again.
Overall, a draw seems like the most likely result here.
Prediction: Lens 1-1 Marseille
