Preview: Lens v. Paris

A LOOK AT THE TABLE

Following their 3-1 league victory over FC Metz at the Parc des Princes just before the winter break, Paris Saint-Germain spent the festive period at the top of the Ligue 1 table. With nine wins in their last ten domestic outings, Paris have now racked up 40 points from their 17 games so far this season, while Les Rouge et Bleu also hold a five-point lead over second-placed Nice and a seven-point lead over third-placed Monaco.

Lens, meanwhile, are again establishing themselves as one of the heavyweights of the French top flight this campaign. With a total of 26 points from 17 games, Les Sang et Or currently sit seventh in Ligue 1, while in their last league game of 2023, the northern outfit fell to a 2-0 loss away to the aforementioned Nice. Before that defeat, though, they had been in fine form, earning four wins in their previous five domestic fixtures (against Marseille, Clermont, Lyon and Reims).

THE TWO TEAMS' CURRENT FORM IN NUMBERS

In Lens on Sunday night, Paris Saint-Germain will be looking for a tenth win in 11 Ligue 1 matches, while the capital club have also avoided defeat in each of their last 15 domestic away games, registering 11 wins and four draws – the longest ongoing unbeaten run in Europe's top five leagues. Incidentally, Les Sang et Or have recorded just two wins in their last 19 encounters with Les Rouge et Bleu across all competitions, slumping to six draws and 11 defeats otherwise, but it is in fact Lens who came out on top in the last clash between the two sides at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, running out 3-1 winners on 1st January 2023. The northerners have additionally notched up 22 wins at home in Ligue 1 since the start of last season, with only Manchester City and FC Barcelona doing better than this within the same period across Europe's top five leagues, as they boast 23 home wins each.

It's also worth noting that Lens striker Florian Sotoca has been involved in ten goals for RCL across all competitions this season (scoring four and assisting in six), which is at least four more than any other Sang et Or player. The only Frenchman with a better record than this whilst playing for a Ligue 1 club in 2023–2024 is none other than Kylian Mbappé, who has bagged himself 25 goals and three assists so far this term. Paris's no. 7, whose overall goal tally for the season includes 18 in 16 league games, could well become the quickest player to score 20 times in a single French top-flight season since Hassan Akesbi did so in 1962–1963, reaching the 20-goal mark by the 17th game of the campaign.

THE OPPOSITION'S STRENGTHS

Franck Haise and his team mainly set up in a 4-3-3 formation, although it wouldn't be unusual to see the French tactician play a four-man defence on Sunday due to the long list of absentees within Lens's backline. In goal, France international Brice Samba has been a mainstay in his side's starting XIs, with the Sang et Or captain enjoying a successful save rate of 74.2%. In the absence of both Massadio Haïdara and Abdukodir Khusanov and with the uncertainty hanging over Jonathan Gradit's ability to start games in defence, Lens's rearguard could look very different on Sunday night.

With this in mind, France international Ruben Aguilar may well stake a claim for the position of right-sided centre-back as part of a three-man defence, supported by regular faces Kevin Danso and Facundo Medina; as a result, Poland's Przemysław Frankowski appears to be the most plausible option at right wing-back. On the opposite site, Lens will still have to make do without Deiver Machado, meaning that Faitout Maouassa is likely to start the game, with recent signing Jhoanner Chávez potentially coming into the matchday squad for the first time. In midfield, Ghana's Salis Abdul Samed and Senegal's Nampalys Mendy have both joined up with their national teams for the Africa Cup of Nations, which should bring France U21 international Andy Diouf into the starting XI alongside Neil El Aynaoui.

Up front, the indispensable Sotoca is expected to be preferred to Adrien Thomasson (two goals and one assist in all competitions) on the right wing, while the left wing could well be occupied by David Pereira da Costa, who currently has a single assist to his name for Lens this season, but the Portugal U21 international will face stiff competition from Angelo Fulgini (two goals and two assists in all competitions), who is still looking for his first goal in the league in 2023–2024. Finally, in the centre-forward position, France U21 international Elye Wahi (four goals and two assists in all competitions) is still ahead of Wesley Saïd (four goals and zero assists in all competitions) in the Sang et Or pecking order.