Europe-chasing Lens are desperate to return to winning ways in Ligue 1 when they host bottom Clermont Foot at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis on Friday.
The hosts are in pitiful form heading into gameweek 30's encounter, and victory is not assured against a side battling for their top-flight status.
Match preview
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Lens' consecutive triumphs against Lyon and Brest at the start of March bade well for the Blood and Gold, but a winless run has followed since the mini-revival that came after a four-game run without victory in all competitions (two defeats).
Noteworthy about the ongoing run is the three defeats in four games that have seen Franck Haise's team slide to sixth in the table.
Even more disappointing for Lens have been defeats to Nice and Lille, the clubs directly above them in the standings, and the inability to defeat relegation-threatened Le Havre (1-1) or Metz (2-1).
With another club battling survival set to visit Northern France this weekend, Les Sang et Or seek maximum points to end their current sequence of undesirable results and ward off the threat of seventh-placed Lyon, who could overtake Lens if Haise's team are beaten and the Kids defeat Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday.
However, an underwhelming sequence of results on home turf in 2024 — three defeats in six (two wins) — have undermined the club's efforts to end in the top six.
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It remains to be seen if Clermont inflict more home misery on the sixth-placed club, with the away side going into this weekend with the second-worst road record (11 points) in Ligue 1 — Marseille are bottom with 10 points.
With only two wins away from Clermont-Ferrand in 2023-24, Pascal Gastien's men have underperformed this term, having ended the previous campaign in eighth spot.
This term has not been kind to the away side, whose last triumph on their travels came in a 2-1 triumph at Nantes in January, with Jim Allevinah scoring an 89th-minute winning goal to seal a victory over the Canaries.
Since that win, the Lancers have netted just two goals in Ligue 1 — in a 3-1 loss at Rennes and a creditable draw at PSG on April 6 — underscoring their ongoing struggles to find the back of the net.
Having not got the better of Lens in 11 meetings, Clermont are underdogs heading into this weekend's game regardless of the hosts' form.
Team News
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Salis Abdul Samed (ankle) and Jimmy Cabot (knee) are not expected to play any part for a while because of their injuries.
Despite the team's challenges to secure home victories in 2024, Elye Wahi has scored three times in the hosts' five recent matches at Stade Bollaert-Delelis, and the young striker hopes to come up trumps on Saturday.
Clermont have a few injury worries, with Maximiliano Caufriez touch-and-go for Clermont. However, Allevinah, Adam Mabrouk, Cheick Oumar Konate and Maxime Gonalons are expected to miss out.
Muhammed Cham is the away side's leading scorer with five goals, and the forward hopes to add to his tally in the game.
Lens possible starting lineup:
Samba; Gradit, Danso, Medina; Aguilar, Diouf, El Aynaoui, Frankowski; Sotoca, Da Costa; Wahi
Clermont possible starting lineup:
Diaw; Zeffane, Matsima, Pelmard, Borges; Keita, Gastien; Boutobba, Cham, Rashani; Virginius
We say: Lens 2-0 Clermont
Despite Lens' ongoing winless run, that should end on Saturday. Clermont have not only lost their last four Ligue 1 matches at Lens, but a run of one victory in 10 road matches highlights the struggles of the bottom club to notch results on their travels.
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