This Sunday, May 13, Paris Saint-Germain take on Lens at Stade Bollaert (kick-off 9pm, broadcast on beIN SPORTS) in the round of 32 of the Coupe de France 2024-2025. And, as before every match, here’s a look at the Parisians’ opponents.
The Lens situation –
After a period of excitement, Lens was a little bit of a winner last season. Instead of playing the title race to the end, they qualified for the Europa League Conference play-off. There’s been a change this summer, with coach Franck Haise leaving for a new challenge in Nice, while Will Still has arrived from Reims.
The new adventure got off to an interesting start, with the idea of the game remaining relatively similar, but there were a few missteps, including the European elimination against Panathinaikos and a lack of goals. Even so, RCL are 7th in Ligue 1 and still in the race for Europe.
The 2024 summer mercato –
Source: Transfermarkt.
Departures:
Les arrivées :
Key statistics –
This season, Lens has the 12th-best attack in the league with 19 goals scored (the leader, PSG, is on 40, and the last, Le Havre, is on 11), and is among the best defenders with 14 goals conceded (PSG is tied, the last, Montpellier, is on 38).
Lens’ top scorer is Mbala Nzola (28-year-old striker), who is 18th in the league with 4 goals (Ligue 1’s top scorer is Jonathan David with 11). Ruben Aguilar (31-year-old right-back) is Lens’ top passer with 1 assist, ranking 57th in Ligue 1 (Dilane Bakwa is first with 6 assists).
Lens’ last 5 matches –
Only Lens possession is shown and Lens shots are put first (when data is available).
09/11/2024 (Ligue 1) – Lens/Nantes: 3-2. 3-4-2-1 formation. 68% possession. 15 shots including 3 on target vs. 9 shots (3 on target).
23/11/2024 (Ligue 1) – Lens/Marseille: 3-1. 3-4-2-1 formation. 45% possession. 16 shots, including 7 on target, against 10 shots (4 on target).
29/11/2024 (Ligue 1) – Reims/Lens : 0-2. In 4-2-3-1. 48% possession. 11 shots including 6 on target versus 16 shots (3 on target).
08/12/2024 (Ligue 1) – Lens/Montpellier: 2-0. In 4-2-3-1. 54% possession. 17 shots, including 3 on target, against 7 shots (4 on target).
12/14/2024 (Ligue 1) – Auxerre/Lens : 2-2. In 4-2-3-1. 61% possession. 16 shots including 5 on target vs. 10 shots (3 on target).
The squad and probable team.
The squad and probable line-up.
Out – Aguilar, Labeau Lascary, Saïd, Samba, Satriano (blessures), Bane, Diliwidi, Ganiou, Mendy (choix).
Le Parisien (5-3-2) –
Nzola – Fulgini
Diouf ou Ojediran – El Aynaoui – Thomasson
Machado – Medina – Danson – Khusanov – Frankowski
Koffi.
L’Equipe (4-4-2) –
Nzola – Fulgini
Chavez – Thomasson – El-Aynaoui – Zaroury
Medina – Danson – Khusanov – Frankowski
Koffi.
Lens’ style of play.
In keeping with Will Still’s usual style, Lens’ idea – which was already close with Franck Haise – is to play high and press hard, so as to gain possession and create chances without being in too much danger. This last point works, as Lens is very solid. But there’s a huge lack of efficiency, which is costly. We saw that in the 1-0 league defeat on November 2. Nothing will be easy this time either.
