Lens vs Nantes

A struggling Lens outfit hosts a struggling Antoine Kombouare side’s Nantes in the league encounter on Saturday at Stade Bollaert-Delelis in Ligue 1.

Still’s Lens side has lost the last two fixtures and ex Lens manager Kombouare is now as vulnerable as any other Ligue 1 manager in terms of losing his job at the moment.

After that great start at Reims, Still continued to impress in his early period at Lens this term as the Blood and Gold began the new season with an eight-match unbeaten run.

However, things have slightly gone wrong recently with much of bad luck contributing to their losses in the last two weeks.

Another questionable stoppage time goal allowed Lille to cross the Bollaert-Delelis and snatch the win and three, Lens left for Paris to be defeated by Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 last week, but an Abdukodir Khusanov’s sending off in the 60th minute sealed Lens fate.

And that puts Lens at the verge of making unwanted history here, as the team has not seen itself desperately losing three consecutive Ligue 1 matches since relegation in 2020 , and after sharing the 7 th position after 28 matches with 38 points, four points behind the top four, another disappointing performance here could really prove to be expensive.

Still’s practical strategy has somewhat paid off this time as they have now managed five clean sheets in seven home matches; however, Lens has not scored any goal at home since August, and they are still the only club that has not reached even double digits both in terms of goals scored and goals conceded.

They have five goals in all competitions and wing-back Przemyslaw Frankowski is their top scorer and that they lack sharpness in the final parts of the matches because Lens has not scored a second-half goal in this stadium this season.

With five aggressive players in his starting lineup and winger Krepin Diatta at right-back, Monaco manager Hutter may have gone too forward in the loss to Angers.

The Monaco manager will be able to field a more evenly distributed team tonight, as he did in Bologna, thanks to the return of both Vanderson and Teze from suspension in defense.

Folarin Balogun and Mohammed Salisu are still out for the visitors, and Denis Zakaria is also probably going to be out because the Swiss international has been battling a muscular issue periodically over the last month.

Nantes has been a good opponent for Lens lately, winning three straight meetings in Ligue 1, including a 4-0 victory here last season, so that's one thing the home crowd can hold onto.

Given that Nantes has only collected three points from their past seven games, a repeat of that might put Nantes manager Kombouare closer to the exit door.

Nantes had seven points from their first three games going into the international break in September, but they have since fallen sharply down the standings and are currently just above Angers and Saint-Etienne on goal differential, well outside the relegation zone.

Games have only become harder, with losses to Strasbourg and Marseille not providing the best preparation for this one. This concerning run started with unsatisfactory performances against Reims, Angers, and Saint-Etienne, when the Canaries only managed two points.