Lens can book their place in the last 32 of the Coupe de France for a fourth successive campaign with a third-round victory over Monaco, who they host on Sunday at Stade Bollaert-Delelis.
In the previous campaign, Les Sang et Or made it all the way to the quarter-finals of this tournament before losing 2-1 to Nantes, while Les Monegasques were shocked by Ligue 2 side Rodez in the third round a season ago, losing 7-6 on penalties.
Match preview
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While 2023 ended in disappointment for Lens, losing their final domestic encounter 2-0 at Nice, there is a lot of optimism for this side heading into the New Year, with points in 11 of their last 12 matches versus French opposition.
Franck Haise's men enter 2024 just two points behind a European place next season, claiming 26 points after 17 league fixtures.
Les Sang et Or are on a nine-match unbeaten run at home in all competitions, winning five straight competitive fixtures at Stade Bollaert-Delelis.
Lens have not been defeated in the third round of this tournament since Reims beat them 2-0 in 2018-19, with Lens losing only one of their last eight home games at the Coupe de France since the 2015-16 season (4-2 versus Monaco in 2021-22).
They have won their last five competitive matches when scoring the opening goal while losing only once all season when doing so (3-2 at Brest in August 2023).
In their last four home fixtures versus Monaco, Lens have only suffered one defeat, winning the previous Ligue 1 encounter against them at Stade Bollaert-Delelis, 3-0 last season.
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As they begin 2024, there are many more things to be excited about in the Principality compared to last season, with Monaco currently third in Ligue 1 with 33 points, three more than they had at this stage in 2022-23.
Unlike his predecessor, Philippe Clement, Adi Hutter has quickly got this team back on track after a setback, with Les Monegasques yet to suffer consecutive defeats this season.
After losing 5-2 at the Parc des Princes versus Paris Saint-Germain at the end of November, Monaco ended 2023 with back-to-back 2-1 away triumphs, the last one coming at Toulouse in December.
Monaco have emerged victorious from seven of their previous nine Coupe de France encounters away from home and have not lost a third-round fixture in this tournament as the visitors since 2011-12 (4-3 at Angers).
Throughout the current domestic campaign, Les Monegasques have regularly found the back of the net, scoring the second-most goals in Ligue 1 (33) while netting multiple times in their last six Coupe de France affairs.
While they have only triumphed in one of their last four visits to Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Monaco have never been beaten by Lens in this competition, outscoring them by a combined margin of 12-2 in those four encounters.
Team News
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Wuilker Farinez is back training with Lens, while Jimmy Cabot is out until the middle of January, with both players still dealing with ACL injuries.
Deiver Machado is questionable due to a groin strain, Jonathan Gradit has a sore calf and Nampalys Mendy remains on the sidelines because of a thigh injury.
In their previous home fixture, goals from Wesley Said and Oscar Cortes gave them a 2-0 triumph over Reims, with Brice Samba collecting his eighth clean sheet of the Ligue 1 campaign.
Eliesse Ben Seghir is still struggling to recover from a shoulder strain, while Monaco will likely also be without Eliot Matazo this weekend due to a muscle issue and Mohamed Camara has a thigh injury.
Caio Henrique and Breel Embolo remain sidelined because of ACL injuries, the club recently added Thilo Kehrer on loan from West Ham for the rest of the season, while Aleksandr Golovin is eligible to play despite his straight red card in their previous Ligue 1 affair versus Toulouse.
Wissam Ben Yedder notched a brace in their victory over Toulouse, his eighth of the Ligue 1 campaign, moving him into second in the Golden Boot race, well back of Kylian Mbappe (18), while Folarin Balogun is without a goal in his last four domestic encounters.
Lens possible starting lineup:
Samba; Khusanov, Danso, Haidara; Aguilar, El Aynaoui, Guilavogui, Costa; Thomasson, Fulgini; Said
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Kohn; Magassa, Maripan, Salisu; Vanderson, Minamino, Fofana, Jakobs; Golovin; Ben Yedder, Boadu
We say: Lens 1-2 Monaco
This may be the most competitive encounter in the third round of this tournament, as both teams have plenty of quality in the attack.
Monaco always seem to find another gear when needed away from home, and we believe they will do enough to advance beyond the third round on Sunday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
