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Action continues in France’s Ligue 1 this weekend, with a clash of two of the league’s stronger sides as Lens play host to Montpellier.
Both sides have a chance of pushing into the upper echelon of Ligue 1 with a win in this game, with Montpellier even able to move up to fourth with a victory.
Lens will be aiming to prevent that by picking up vital points of their own.
Lens vs Montpellier Head-to-Head
Lens have been in excellent form in recent weeks. They’ve lost just one of their past five games, falling 1-3 to Angers on 29 November.
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Most recently, they were able to pick up a 2-0 win over Rennes in a tricky away game. However, their home form has not been so great recently. They haven’t won there since 3 October.
Montpellier, meanwhile, saw a four-match winning streak snapped at the hands of reigning champions Paris St. Germain last weekend, but they performed admirably in the loss. Prior to that, the last time they’d been beaten was by Reims on 25 October.
Notably, they have not lost an away game since the opening day of the season to Rennes.
Due to Lens only returning to Ligue 1 in the 2020-21 campaign, you’ve got to go back to 2015 to find the last match between the two. That was won 1-0 by Montpellier, who scored an injury-time winner.
Lens form guide: D-W-D-L-W
Montpellier form guide: W-W-W-W-L
Lens vs Montpellier Team News
Lens have just one injury to worry about. Right-back Cheick Traore is out with an Achilles tendon rupture for the foreseeable future.
However, they do have two suspensions – Jonathan Gradit and Cheick Doucoure will have to sit this one out after accumulating too many yellow cards.
Injured: Cheick Traore
Doubtful: None
Suspended: Jonathan Gradit, Cheick Doucoure
Montpellier have no injuries to speak of right now, but will probably be missing Andy Delort, who tested positive for COVID-19 and is not ready to return just yet.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Unavailable: Andy Delort
Lens vs Montpellier Predicted XI
Lens predicted XI (3-4-1-2): Jean-Louis Leca, Clement Michelin, Loic Bade, Massadio Haidara, Jonathan Clauss, Yannick Cahuzac, Seko Fofana, Issiaga Sylla, Gael Kakuta, Florian Sotoca, Arnaud Kalimuendo
Montpellier predicted XI (4-3-3): Jonas Omlin, Mihailo Ristic, Daniel Congre, Pedro Mendes, Junior Sambia, Florent Mollet, Jordan Ferri, Teji Savanier, Stephy Mavididi, Yun Il-Lok, Gaetan Laborde
Lens vs Montpellier Prediction
This game is a close one to call, with both teams having scored and conceded a similar amount of goals throughout the season. However, Montpellier have been on the slightly better run, despite their loss to PSG. They also have slightly more firepower than their opponents.
Considering Lens’ poor home record and Montpellier’s strong form away from home, we suspect the visitors will come out on top.
Prediction: Lens 1-2 Montpellier
