Lens vs Marseille

Lens and Marseille are set to square off in a tasty-looking Ligue 1 clash at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis.

Manager Franck Haise hailed his Lens side following a tight 1-0 victory at Coupe de France winners Toulouse in midweek, a sixth triumph in seven Ligue 1 matches (L1), which helped them move eight points clear of fourth-placed Monaco with only five games left. A victory in this crucial “six-pointer” match against fellow Champions League hopefuls Marseille would be a massive success for Lens since it would see them overtake their opponents and move up to second place. As such, the home faithful still dreams of a first top-two finish in Ligue 1 since 2001/02, but facing Marseille could throw a spanner in the works. Haise’s men have gone winless in their last four H2Hs at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis (D1, L3). By contrast, their record of 14 wins from 16 home league matches this season (D1, L1) is second to none.

On the other hand, visiting Marseille came from a 1-0 halftime deficit to beat Auxerre 2-1 at home last weekend, stretching their winning run in Ligue 1 to three games. By extension, ‘Les Olympiens’ are unbeaten in eight consecutive league outings (W5, D3) since a 3-0 loss to perennial champions PSG in February despite keeping just one clean sheet in that period. As the league’s best travelers, Igor Tudor’s men have only lost once on their 16 top-flight trips this season (W12, D3), racking up a mind-blowing nine wins in their last ten away matches (D1). Such a strong away record will boost Marseille’s bid to avoid suffering a first league double to Lens in 20 years after going down 1-0 in the reverse fixture.