Montpellier vs Lens

Stade de la Mosson is the venue as Montpellier and Lens go head-to-heaad in a lopsided Ligue 1 encounter.

Montpellier’s bid to secure Ligue 1 survival is back on track after they followed up back-to-back two-goal margin defeats with a brace of wins ‘to nil’ over fellow relegation rivals Troyes and Brest. But despite moving seven points clear of the bottom four, Michel Der Zakarian’s men cannot take their eyes off the ball, especially after losing three of their last four league outings at home (W1). Lens’ upcoming visit could make life more complicated for ‘La Paillade,’ considering they’ve suffered three defeats in their last four top-flight H2Hs (W1), including a narrow 1-0 loss in the reverse fixture in October. Indeed, before a 1-0 win in this exact clash in 2021/22, Montpellier had conceded multiple goals in their four previous home league meetings with Lens (D2, L2).

On the other hand, Lens pulled off a morale-boosting 3-1 home victory over Nantes last weekend to overcome their longest winless league run this season of four matches (D2, L2). But with top-placed PSG now eight points off, Lens’ hopes of landing a first top-flight title since 1997/98 are pretty much dead in the water. The distance could increase at the end of this round, especially considering the visitors are winless in their last five away league matches (D4, L1), most recently going down 2-1 at Lyon. It’s worth noting, though, that Franck Haise’s men haven’t lost on back-to-back Ligue 1 travels since December 2021.