Everything about Paris-Lens!
History, what's at stake and the keys to the match! Take a look at everything you need to know ahead of kick off in the Ligue 1 matchday 31 game between Paris Saint-Germain and RC Lens, this Saturday 15 April at 21:00 at the Parc des Princes.
a bit of history...
The two teams have already played each other 87 times in official matches, with the Parisians winning 41, drawing 21 and losing 25.
At the Parc des Princes, the two sides have met 43 times in official matches, with a record of 28 wins, 7 draws and 8 defeats for the Parisians. The last time the club from the capital lost at home to RCL was on 5 November 2006 (a 1-3 win for the Sang et Or at the Parc des Princes in the league), at the end of a record run of five consecutive wins for the Sang et Or in Paris.
Paris' top scorer against Lens is Mustapha Dahleb, with 11 goals. He is ahead of François M'Pelé (8 goals), Dominique Rocheteau (7 goals) and Safet Susic (5 goals).
Two players have scored a hat-trick against Lens: François M'Pelé at the Stade Bollaert on 28 February 1976 in the Coupe de France round of 16 (3-0) and Laurent Leroy at the Parc des Princes on 14 April 2000 (4-1).
36 players have played for both teams: Alphonse Areola, Serge Aurier, Milan Bisevac, Jules Bocandé, François Brisson, Zoumana Camara, Clément Chantôme, Charles-Édouard Coridon, Éric Cubilier, Stéphane Dalmat, Frédéric Déhu, Jean Deloffre, Nicolas Douchez, Pierre-Alain Frau, Bernard Hereson, Arnaud Kalimuendo, Bonaventure Kalou, Bernard Lama, Loïck Landre, Nicolas Laspalles, Ronan Le Crom, Jérôme Leroy, Danijel Ljuboja, Patrice Marquet, Jean-Eudes Maurice, François M'Pelé, William N'Jo-Lea, Pascal Nouma, Alex Nyarko, Stéphane Pédron, José-Karl Pierre-Fanfan, Thierry Rabat, Bruno Rodríguez, Daniel Xuereb, Christian Zajaczkowski and Bruno Zaremba.
what's at stake...
Paris Saint-Germain, the league leaders, face their runners-up Lens with eight games to go.
Last season, Paris were officially crowned French champions after a 1-1 draw with Lens at the Parc des Princes on 22 April 2022.
Paris are still in the running to achieve an unprecedented feat in the French league: the Rouge et Bleu have been leaders since the first day of Ligue 1 and could become the first club to top the table for the entire season.
the keys to the MATCH...
The Parisians love playing Lens, with the Sang et Or having conceded 151 goals against Paris Saint-Germain. Only four clubs have done worse than the Northern side: Saint-Etienne (167 goals), Lyon (162 goals), Nantes (157 goals) and Marseille (152 goals).
Watching a match between the two teams is often a spectacle: with 265 goals scored in 87 matches, the average number of goals scored in a match between the two clubs is more than three. The two sides have only played to a 0-0 draw on four occasions.
RC Lens are the only team this season in Ligue 1 not to have conceded a goal scored by Kylian Mbappé since his arrival at Paris Saint-Germain in 2017: a new challenge for the Parisian number 7, who could also become the sole record holder for goals scored in the top flight by a Rouge et Bleu, a record he shares with Edinson Cavani (138 goals scored).
