Lens vs. Lille: Preview and betting tips

A poor Tuesday’s football schedule will feature a French Cup clash between Lens and Lille. Will the visitors confirm their improving form, or will Vladimir Šmicer’s one-time employer look to the next round?

Lens have made a great start to this season, holding second place in the table, but are currently five games away from a league win. From ninth place in the table, they are six points behind second-placed Nice.

Lille are very similar in the table. Last year’s champion has only one point more than Lens, but on the other hand, it has won three of the last four rounds of Ligue 1. The favourite is thus clearly defined, as Lille went through to the Champions League play-offs from first place.

The home side are relying on Seko Fofana, the central midfielder from Ivory Coast has already scored five goals in the league. Polish winger Przemyslaw Frankowski has scored four times and added the same number of assists.

Lille is leaning on the goals of the speedy Jonathan David, the Canadian striker has scored twelve goals in the league, through all competitions he even has sixteen goals. Turkish tank Burak Yilmaz boasts a 6+5 record.

Lens has lost its defensive edge. In four of the last six games it has scored at least two goals, and with twenty-eight goals scored it is the worst of the teams from the top half of the table.

This plays into the hands of the visitors, who have scored at least twice in five of their last six games across all competitions. Against Wolfsburg and Bordeaux they have even scored three times.

Considering the form of the away team’s offense and the wonderful odds, I recommend betting on the away team to advance.