Lens-Ajaccio is a match from the 37th day of Ligue 1 and is played on Saturday at 21:00: statistics, likely formations, predictions.
On the day Psg are likely to be French champions for the second year running, Lens will be looking to secure second place, which would mean direct qualification to the next Champions League without having to go through the preliminaries.
Franck Haise’s Giallorossi will need only to get the better of relegated Ajaccio in Ligue 2 and at least maintain their current lead (+5) over Igor Tudor’s Marseille to achieve a goal that seemed unlikely at the start of the season. Lens is even still in the running for first place. It is mathematics that says so, as the Parisians need three points (or at most one) to be able to celebrate with one round in advance. In the event that the gap between the first and second in the class is reduced from six to three points – Psg’s defeat and Lens’s victory – it would still be impossible for the Sang et Or to overtake Mbappé and his team-mates because of the abysmal goal difference between the two teams. The fact that they are back in the Champions League after so many years is nevertheless a noteworthy achievement, especially when you consider that in recent seasons Lens had often stopped at the most beautiful point, missing out on Europe by a whisker. It was a vintage year for Haise and his men, who have only lost to Psg since February. After the defeat to the Parisians came five wins in a row, including the one against Lorient last Sunday.
Lens want to close on a high note
Lens have particularly shone in front of their home crowd, where they have won 16 times in 18 matches and suffered just one defeat. Nobody can boast a better score.
Barreto
The team’s excellent performance at home allowed them to come out on top in the thrilling long-distance duel with Marseille, a team decidedly better equipped than Lens. Ajaccio, on the other hand, will start again from the lower division, a small reality of transalpine football that in recent years has been shuttling between Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Olivier Pantaloni’ team collapsed in the second half of the season, obtaining only two victories against Angers and Troyes, two other teams that will accompany them in their descent into the ‘underworld’ of the lower division. In the last eleven days, Ajaccio have barely picked up two points, the result of white-net draws against Brest and Toulouse. The recent defeats, both 5-0, against Psg and Rennes were humiliating. The red-and-whites, meanwhile, have not found the way of goal for a month and a half now.
The Prediction
Lens have a near-perfect home roster and against a relegated Ajaccio already on holiday they will finish on a high, taking those three points that mean Champions League football. The Giallorossi will score between two and four goals, taking advantage of a sieve defence.
Lens-Ajaccio’s likely line-up
- LENS (3-4-3): Samba; Gradit, Danso, Medina; Sotoca, Samed, Fofana, Machado; Thomasson, Openda, Fulgini.
- AJACCIO (4-5-1): Leroy; Youssouf, Gonzalez, Vidal, Strata; Nouri, Barreto, Coutadeur, Marchetti, Spadanuda; Soumano.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 4-0
