Lens vs Reims

Lens’ quest for a long-awaited Champions League finish continues at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis against Ligue 1 surprise package Reims this weekend.

Despite still harboring tiny hopes of overhauling a six-point deficit on Ligue 1 pacesetters PSG in the final four matches, Lens must deal with a more pressing matter first. A three-match winning league streak, bookended by a 2-1 home win over Marseille last time out, has helped ‘Les Sang et Or’ create a two-point buffer between the final Champions League qualifying place and third-placed ‘Les Olympiens.’ That victory over direct top-two rivals, in fact, marked Lens’ 15th home triumph in Ligue 1 this season (D1, L1), cementing them as the best home side in the division by some margin. Reims’ upcoming visit to the Stade Bollaert-Delelis can only strengthen their confidence after they’ve gone unbeaten in their last nine top-flight H2Hs (W4, D5) since a 2-0 defeat in 1977.

On the other hand, visiting Reims eked out a narrow 1-0 home win over Lille last weekend to arrest an underwhelming three-match losing league run and move one step closer to an eight-placed finish. Achieving that feat would mark their best Ligue 1 finish since 2019/20 and would go a long way in wonder manager Will Still’s resume. Reims already proved a challenging opposition to Lens earlier in the season when they held their upcoming hosts to a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture. Sharing the spoils on their travels has been Reims’ thing this season, as they’ve drawn a league-high nine matches on the road (W4, L4). Against this backdrop, none of their last four away league games have ended level (W2, L2), with each encounter (won/lost) in this period seeing the winner on the day keep a clean sheet.