The French Ligue 1 action continues on Friday night and features this upcoming clash between Nantes and Lens with both teams keen to further ambitions of a possible top five finish.
Nantes currently occupy a bottom half position of 13th place in the Ligue 1 standings ahead of this weekend’s domestic top flight action but the hosts will be keen to build upon their recent and most welcome 1-0 win away at Lorient when they play host to Lens on Friday night at their Stade de la Beaujoire.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐞.#SainteBarbe #SiFierDEtreLensois #RCLPSG pic.twitter.com/kzTzespRaJ— Racing Club de Lens (@RCLens) December 6, 2021
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐞.#SainteBarbe #SiFierDEtreLensois #RCLPSG pic.twitter.com/kzTzespRaJ
That away win ended a run of five games without a win for Nantes following three defeats and two draws, losing to Montpellier, PSG and Marseille along with picking up single points in draws with Strasbourg and Lille.
Results at home have been fairly mixed for Nantes although the hosts have managed to pick up four wins to date although Nantes have failed to beat Lens in each of their previous four meetings.
In addition, Nantes have kept just one clean sheet in their last seven home games at their Stade de la Beaujoire and this could have a bearing on the outcome of this encounter with Lens.
Onto Lens, and the visitors already sit in the top five of Ligue 1 as they occupy 5th place and another three points here on Friday night would see the visitors jump up into 3rd spot.
Lens have been involved in three draws on the trot in recent times as the visitors have had to share the spoils with Angers, Clermont and PSG but the latter result will give them confidence as they prepare for this trip to face Nantes on Friday night.
The visitors have lost just one of their last five games in Ligue 1 but having lost three out of their last four on the road, Lens need to improve if they’re to at least hold onto their current 5th place spot.
Defeats on their travels at Montpellier, Lyon and Brest raise question marks as to whether Lens can collect all three points at Nantes on Friday night but the visitors have matched their hosts in previous encounters, so Lens stand a very good chance of at least picking up a point here.
Nantes have blown a little hot-and-cold at home while the more consistent Lens might just sneak a narrow win here.