Olympique Lyonnais vs Lens 07/01/21

Olympique Lyonnais and Lens go head-to-head at the Groupama Stadium in their opening Ligue 1 fixture of 2021.

Lyon have established themselves as a force to be reckoned with since losing 2-1 to Montpellier in mid-September, going unbeaten in 14 consecutive Ligue 1 matches since then (W9, D5). Notably, ‘Les Gones’ have netted an intimidating 2.8 goals per Ligue 1 victory this season, with six of their ten league successes coming by at least a two-goal margin. At home, Rudi Garcia’s men have scored over 1.5 goals in each of their last five Ligue 1 outings (W4, D1), accruing a total of 14. Furthermore, Olympique have racked up joint-highest 12 first-half goals scored at home this term, bagging 2+ first-half goals in half (4) of their eight home Ligue 1 fixtures. That said, Lyon will be confident of maintaining their impressive form when they take on a side they’ve beaten in eight of their ten previous top-flight meetings (L2).

On the other hand, none of Lens’ last six Ligue 1 matches have ended in a draw (W3, L3), with ‘Sang et Or’ alternating between a win and a loss on each occasion. Each game won/lost in that sequence saw the winner on the day open the scoring within 30 minutes of play and add at least one more goal before full-time. The ‘clean-sheet’ theme remains quite significant in the context of Lens’ recent away fortunes, as all of their last five Ligue 1 trips have seen the victor register a shutout (W3, L2). However, it will be a daunting prospect for Lens to pick up all three points here, as they’ve claimed just one triumph in their 13 previous top-flight trips to Lyon (D1, L11). It’s worth noting that their last such meeting took place in August 2014!