Preview: Lyon vs. Lens - prediction, team news, lineups

Surprisingly, it is the visitors who are challenging for the Champions League places, at the expense of Lyon, this season.

Match preview

In what has been another dreadful season for the seven-time French champions, Lyon have at least responded to another blip, by now going five games unbeaten.

Two of those games saw them progress through the Coupe de France, booking their place in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.

It was a dramatic night on home turf against Lille, as OL threw away a 2-0 lead which saw the game go to penalties, but they held their nerve to progress in the shootout.

However, on the league front, they have failed to win any of their last four home games.

That is a major disappointment for recently-appointed manager Laurent Blanc, as taking just two points from home ties with Nice, Clermont, Strasbourg and Brest is unacceptable for where they aspire to be.

After their Champions League hopes faded a long time ago, European qualification altogether looks unlikely now too.

Blanc's side are marooned in ninth, eight points behind Rennes in the final UEFA Europa Conference League spot.

The Coupe de France looks like their only viable route into Europe now, and with Paris Saint-Germain eliminated, their chances have been boosted.

A stuttering run of their own has killed off Lens' title challenge in recent weeks, but they are still in the lofty heights of third.

Their last three games against Troyes, Nice and Brest yielded just two points, and it has allowed Marseille to leapfrog them and PSG to almost run away with the title.

Their pragmatic approach was always a fragile thing to rely on because despite having the best defence in the division, they are the lowest scorers in the top seven.

That has become evident in the last few games, as those three games without a win saw them score just twice, with top scorers Lois Openda and Florian Sotoca having scored only two league goals between them since the World Cup.

The form of Przemyslaw Frankowski will be a key factor in Lens keeping alive their push for the Champions League.

L'Equipe have him in the current top five highest-performing players of the season so far, behind only Neymar, Lionel Messi, Marco Verratti and Aleksandr Golovin.

After an excellent month which saw him nominated for the Ligue 1 Player of the Month for January, the Polish wing-back now has 15 goal involvements since arriving in French football 18 months ago.

Lyon Ligue 1 form:

L

D

L

W

D

W

Lyon form (all competitions):

L

W

W

D

W

W

Lens Ligue 1 form:

W

D

W

D

L

D

Lens form (all competitions):

W

W

D

L

D

W

Team News

Malo Gusto is expected to miss this fixture for Lyon after the right-back limped off with discomfort in his hamstring in the first half on Wednesday.

Manager Blanc has revealed he does not expect Gusto to be out for too long, but he will need treatment on the issue which he has been playing on with for a while.

The man brought in to replace Leicester City-bound Tete, Jeffinho, also remains out injured.

In their absence, Bradley Barcola has become a regular and teenager Rayan Cherki is starting to fulfill his promise, scoring in back-to-back games for the first time in a Lyon shirt.

Henrique made his first start since the World Cup in the cup win over Lille, but Houssem Aouar continues to struggle with his fitness.

Frankowski should return to league action in the Lens starting XI after being rested against Brest.

His Polish compatriot Adam Buksa is one of a number of players out injured at the moment though.

Massadio Haidara, Jimmy Cabot and Alexis Claude-Maurice are also sidelined, while goalkeeper Wuilker Farinez continues his long recovery from a knee injury.

Lyon possible starting lineup:

Lopes; Kumbedi, Diomande, Lovren, Tagliafico; Lepenant, Tolisso, Caqueret; Cherki, Barcola, Lacazette

Lens possible starting lineup:

Samba; Gradit, Danso, Medina; Frankowski, Abdul Samed, Fofana, Machado; Sotoca, Thomasson, Openda

We say: Lyon 1-1 Lens

Lyon look as though they are turning a corner with Blanc in charge, but they must claim a first league win at home since October sooner rather than later.

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