A struggling Bordeaux side will make the long trip north to the Stade Bollaert-Delelis on Sunday afternoon to take on Lens in this weekend's Ligue 1 action.
The hosts have slipped away from the European spots in the last couple of weeks, whilst the visitors have more worryingly slipped into the relegation zone.
Match preview
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After a poor end to 2021, Lens began the New Year in great form with a dramatic win in the Coupe de France and then back-to-back victories in the league.
They then returned to their form from December, however, with a 2-0 loss at home to Marseille followed by a cup exit at the hands of Monaco.
Last week, things got worse still as Lorient ended their 15-game winless run thanks to goals from Sambou Soumano and new signing Ibrahima Kone, who scored with his very first touch for the club, 60 seconds after coming on.
That makes it three consecutive defeats for Les Sang et Or, whose European charge seems to be disappearing as they fall back into the tight midtable battle.
Their fixture this weekend will present them with about as good a chance of securing three points as they could wish for, though.
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Franck Haise's side may have had a mixed start to 2022, but Bordeaux have had a shocking one.
They have lost four of their five matches since the turn of the year and conceded 14 goals in their last three Ligue 1 games.
One of those was their only victory of the year so far - a dramatic seven-goal thriller against Strasbourg - but the shame of a 6-0 loss to Rennes prior to that game was compounded by another heavy defeat last weekend.
It took until the 40th minute for Hugo Ekitike to open the scoring, but the floodgates opened in the second half, with Azor Matusiwa, Wout Faes and a Marshall Munetsi double making it 5-0 at the final whistle.
That result leaves Les Girondins with the worst goal difference in the division, and positive results for those around them saw them drop to 19th. They simply have to arrest this slump in form if they are to retain a spot in the top flight next season.
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Team News
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Lens' veteran midfielder Yannick Cahuzac will miss out through suspension after having been sent off during the game against Lorient.
Ignatius Ganago is back from the Africa Cup of Nations, however, and could immediately return to a front three given his side's struggles in attack last weekend.
The visitors will have a suspension of their own to deal with after new signing Danylo Ihnatenko was dismissed fewer than nine minutes into his debut against Reims.
Tom Lacoux has served his suspension, though, and could be an option in midfield, most likely in a defensive two alongside Jean Onana who has himself just returned from AFCON.
Goalkeeper Benoit Costil is unlikely to recover from a knock in time, which will leave Gaetan Poussin between the sticks despite the 23-year-old having conceded five last time out.
Lens possible starting lineup:
Leca; Gradit, Danso, Medina; Clauss, Doucoure, Fofana, Frankowski; Kalimuendo, Ganago, Said
Bordeaux possible starting lineup:
Poussin; Pembele, Medioub, Marcelo, Mensah; Lacoux, Onana; Elis, Adli, Oudin; Hwang
We say: Lens 2-0 Bordeaux
After their recent defensive disasters, Petkovic will surely look to shore up his defence and perhaps look to steal one goal against a side who have also struggled in the last couple of weeks. We do not think it will be enough, though, and are backing the hosts to leave with a comfortable two-goal victory.
Top tip
James Mackenzie
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Lens win with a probability of 64.94%. A draw had a probability of 20.1% and a win for Bordeaux had a probability of 14.92%.
The most likely scoreline for a Lens win was 2-0 with a probability of 11.31%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (10.98%) and 2-1 (9.86%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.57%), while for a Bordeaux win it was 0-1 (4.64%). The actual scoreline of 3-2 was predicted with a 3% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Lens would win this match.
