Lens are set to host Panathinaikos at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis on Thursday in the first leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League playoff round tie.
This will be the host's first qualifying match after securing a place in the playoff round last season, while the visitors dropped into this competition after losing on penalties to Ajax in the Europa League third qualifying round.
Match preview
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Lens have had an incredible few seasons since securing promotion back into the top division of French football in 2019-20, when they finished second in Ligue 2.
They finished seventh in their first campaign back in Ligue 1 since 2014-15, just one point outside of the European places, and followed that up with another seventh-placed finish in 2021-22.
The 2022-23 season saw Lens come heartbreakingly close to achieving their second-ever Ligue 1 title, only winning on one previous occasion in 1997-98, losing out to Paris Saint-Germain by just one point.
While the Blood and Gold were unable to reach those same heights last term, they were still able to secure Europa Conference League football with a third seventh-placed finish in four years.
Long-time manager Franck Haise, who had been at the helm since February 2020, left the side at the end of the season in favour of the Nice job, with former Reims manager Will Still being appointed as his successor.
Lens enjoyed a brilliant pre-season in preparation for 2024-25, winning five and drawing one of their six friendly fixtures, and kicked off Still's tenure with a 1-0 victory against Angers last weekend.
The hosts have enjoyed a strong record at home in recent years, losing just 13 of their 58 league fixtures since returning to the top flight, leaving them full of confidence heading into this first-leg match.
After missing out on the Greek league title in 2022-23, finishing the regular season in top spot before falling to second in the post-split season, Panathinaikos had a disappointing 2023-24 campaign.
The Greens finished fourth in the league last year, earning a shot at Europa League qualification, and began their campaign with a 6-1 aggregate victory over Botev Plovdiv in the second qualifying round.
A difficult draw matched Diego Alonso's side up against Ajax in the third round, suffering a narrow 1-0 defeat in the first leg before forcing extra time with an 89th-minute equaliser in the second leg.
Neither team were able to find the winning goal in the extra 30 minutes, with the tie eventually being settled after an extensive penalty shootout that saw Panathinaikos lose 13-12.
Alonso's men followed that result with an underwhelming 1-0 defeat to Asteras Tripolis in the league, likely to leave the Panathinaikos squad with little confidence heading into this one.
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Team News
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The hosts will be without Jimmy Cabot and Neil El Aynaoui for the first leg due to injury issues that are expected to keep the pair out until early September.
Following a strong performance against Angers last weekend Still could opt to name a similar side in this one, with Wesley Said, who scored the winning goal in that game, playing alongside Florian Sotoca in attack.
As for the visitors, Adam Cerin, Andraz Sporar, Bartlomiej Dragowski and Giannis Kotsiras are all doubts for this one after suffering injuries in the previous outing.
Fotis Ioannidis has been the subject of intense speculation regarding a potential transfer to the Premier League in recent weeks, but the striker remains at the club and is likely to play here.
Lens possible starting lineup:
Samba; Gradit, Danso, Medina; Aguilar, Thomasson, Mendy, Chavez; Fulgini; Sotoca, Said
Panathinaikos possible starting lineup:
Lodygin; Vagiannidis, Schenkeveld, Arao, Max; Maksimovic, Zeca, Vilhena; Tete, Ioannidis, Duricic
We say: Lens 2-0 Panathinaikos
Lens have had an impressive home record in recent seasons, and with Panathinaikos coming into this one on the back of a mixed start to their campaign, we expect the hosts to win this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ellis Stevens
