Strasbourg will be out to extend their unbeaten streak in the 2024-25 Ligue 1 season when they welcome Lens to Stade de la Meinau for a gameweek seven clash on Sunday afternoon.
The hosts have got themselves to nine points and are up to eighth place in the league standings after the first six games, while the visitors are one point and two places ahead of them.
Match preview
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After throwing away a 3-1 lead to lose 4-3 to Lyon ahead on the last international break, Strasbourg have made improvements over the last month and are now looking to extend their current unbeaten run to four in a row.
Le Racing played out back-to-back draws against Angers and Lille last month before holding strong against a flood of Marseille attacks last weekend, when they recorded a famous 1-0 victory against an opponent they had not beaten since 2005.
The game-changer and the player who broke the 19-year drought for a win against Les Phoceens was Diego Moreira, who joined permanently this summer from sister club Chelsea of the Premier League.
One of the notable changes Strasbourg have made under Liam Rosenior is the implementation of an aggressive high press which was evident last weekend, as they were the far more impressive team throughout the majority of the match and suffocated Marseille in possession.
Still, the lingering concern for the new boss will be that his side have dropped far too many points from winning positions this season, having let leads slip against Montpellier, Lyon, Angers and Lille, all in the first six games of the new campaign.
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Meanwhile, the last time these two sides met at this venue, Lens ground out a 1-0 victory and completed the double over this opponent last season with a convincing 3-1 win back home in February.
With those results, Les Sang et extended their winning streak against Le Racing to three on the bounce, and another victory this weekend would mark the first time ever they have beaten Strasbourg four-in-a-row in the top flight.
However, despite their solid league position, Will Still's side have not been very convincing in recent weeks, failing to win any of their last five matches in all competitions, which began with a loss to Panathinaikos in the Conference League qualifiers followed by four consecutive league stalemates.
The most recent of those draws came last weekend at home to Nice (0-0), while they only barely managed to salvage a point against Monaco and Rennes thanks to stoppage time equalisers in both games during their winless run.
Over the last four gameweeks, Lens have posted the best defensive numbers, conceding only twice, while also possessing the worst attack of any team in the division, scoring just two goals, during the period.
Team News
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Strasbourg are missing a number of players at present due to injury, including the likes of midfield duo Caleb Wiley and Milos Lukovic, who have been ruled out until the end of the month.
Backup shot-stopper Alaa Bellaarouch is also out with a groin injury and he will be joined on the sidelines this week by Thomas Delaine and Moise Sahi Dion, both of whom are recovering from knee injuries.
Lens, meanwhile, are likely to be without as many as six players through injury and a further two in Remy Labeau Lascary and Anass Zaroury, who are forced into watching briefs due to suspension.
The injury absentees for the visitors this week include all of Martin Satriano (ACL), Herve Koffi (back), Hamzat Ojediran (hamstring), Neil El Aynaoui (muscle), Kevin Danso (heart problems) and Jimmy Cabot (knee).
Strasbourg possible starting lineup:
Petrovic; Doue, Sarr, Sow, Moreira; Diarra, Santos, Doukoure; Nanasi, Emegha, Bakwa
Lens possible starting lineup:
Samba; Sarr, Khusanov, Medina; Frankowski, Thomasson, Diouf, Machado; Fulgini; Nzola, Said
We say: Strasbourg 1-1 Lens
While Lens have been the superior team in this fixture in recent times, their form in the lead-up to this match has been far from convincing. Strasbourg would have received a major boost from last week's victory over Marseille and we feel they will be able to take something from this match as well.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
