Paris Saint-Germain will restart the Ligue 1 season five points ahead of second-place Nice in the standings. The Parisians ended the first half of the season in fine form in the league.
Paris won nine of their last 10 matches in Ligue 1, and will fancy their chances of claiming another victory on Sunday against Lens.
Une première pour Jhoanner ⚽️❤️💛📸 La récente recrue Jhoanner Chávez a effectué ses débuts à l'entraînement ce mercredi après-midi.#FierDEtreLensois pic.twitter.com/XCYSbxBNgl— Racing Club de Lens (@RCLens) January 10, 2024
Une première pour Jhoanner ⚽️❤️💛📸 La récente recrue Jhoanner Chávez a effectué ses débuts à l'entraînement ce mercredi après-midi.#FierDEtreLensois pic.twitter.com/XCYSbxBNgl
Lens are seventh in the Ligue 1 standings. Two points separate Lens from fifth place. The Blood and Gold ended the first half of the season with a 2-0 defeat to Nice. The loss ended a five-match unbeaten streak.
The last three matches between Paris Saint-Germain and Lens ended in identical 3-1 scorelines. In head-to-head matches between these clubs, the home team went unbeaten in each fixture.
Paris Saint-Germain have scored goals for fun this season. In nine of their last 10 matches in Ligue 1, PSG scored 2.0 goals.
No team scored more goals than Paris Saint-Germain in the opening 17 games of the campaign.
Defensively, Paris have been nearly as good. They have the second-best defensive record in the division, with 14 goals allowed.
Lens scored 17 times in their opening 21 matches of the campaign. They conceded 17 times in the same timeframe.
The Blood and Gold have played well at home this term, picking up 17 points from eight matches.
They won each of their last four Ligue 1 home fixtures. They conceded a mere six goals while playing at home.
Paris Saint-Germain are Ligue 1’s best away team. They have a record of 5W-3D-0L. Only six goals were conceded by PSG in their eight road matches.
Although rumours are swirling around Kylian Mbappe signing for Real Madrid, he continues to be Paris Saint-Germain’s best player.
Mbappe leads Ligue 1 in goals with 18. The striker contributed 43% of Paris’s goals in the opening 17 fixtures.
No other player has scored more than five goals for Paris Saint-Germain. Manager Luis Enrique will be without full-back Achraf Hakimi and Kang-in Lee due to being on international duty.
Enrique will also be without Milan Skriniar, Fabian Ruiz, Nuno Mendes, and Presnel Kimpembe are all set to miss the match due to injuries.
Lens coach Franck Haise will be without four players due to being on international duty. Meanwhile, the trio of Jonathan Gradit, Deiver Machado, and Jimmy Cabot are all set to miss out on the match following injuries.
Paris should keep their good form going, with a 2-1 win over Lens. Mbappe should pick up another goal to keep Paris in winning form.