It’s all to play for on the final day of the Ligue 1 season. This Saturday, Lens and Monaco go head-to-head at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis in what could be a hugely decisive clash.
Second-place Monaco sit level with third-place Marseille on 68 points, with fourth-place Rennes on 65 points. As it stands, the Monegasques are on course to clinch automatic Champions League qualification.
🗓 Le programme de nos Rouge & Blanc avant la dernière de la saison.👀 #RCLASM— AS Monaco 🇲🇨 (@AS_Monaco) May 17, 2022
🗓 Le programme de nos Rouge & Blanc avant la dernière de la saison.👀 #RCLASM
Meanwhile, Lens find themselves seventh. With fifth-place Strasbourg two points ahead, Franck Haise’s side could sneak into the Europa Conference League spots if results go their way.
Lens head into Saturday’s clash on the back of two consecutive 3-1 victories, having dispatched Reims and Troyes.
It is also worth noting that Haise’s side are currently enjoying a seven-game unbeaten streak in Ligue 1, with five wins and two draws coming since their last loss.
When you look at the bigger picture, Lens have lost just one of their previous ten league outings – picking up six wins and three draws along the way.
Given that Lens have only lost four of their past 27 home games in Ligue 1, they will fancy their chances of frustrating Monaco.
As for Monaco, they come into the final day of the campaign on a nine-match winning streak in the league.
Wissam Ben Yedder netted a hat-trick in last weekend 4-2 victory over Brest, meaning he has now scored 24 goals in 36 Ligue 1 appearances this season.
Thanks largely to Ben Yedder’s goals, the Monegasques have suffered just four defeats in their previous 25 league matches.
If Monaco extend their winning streak to ten games this weekend, they will be playing Champions League football next season.
Head-to-head: Monaco have only lost two of their past 15 meetings with Lens in all competitions, securing eight wins along the way.
It is also worth pointing out that eight of the previous 11 matches between Lens and Monaco have produced over 2.5 goals, meaning we should see a high-scoring clash on Saturday.
Team news: Jean-Louis Leca (fractured finger) and Gael Kakuta (hamstring injury) are both currently unavailable for Lens.
On the flip side, Monaco will be without Krepin Diatta (cruciate ligament rupture) and Cesc Fabregas (ankle injury) on Saturday.
If the recent head-to-head record between these two sides is anything to go by, we should see plenty of goals this weekend.
For that reason, Forebet predicts that Lens and Monaco will play out a high-scoring draw – with both sides netting over 1.5 goals.