Lens are set to maintain their spot ahead of the chasing pack behind PSG when they host Reims in a Friday night Ligue 1 fixture at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis. The hosts have been one of the more impressive teams in the French topflight this season and should have too much for an inconsistent Reims side.
Lens are coming off and impressive 3-2 victory at Marseille in their previous Ligue 1 fixture. A two-goal lead from Przemyslaw Frankowski and Florian Sotoca was cancelled out by the hosts before Wesley Said struck the winner midway through the second half.
It has been a fine start to the season for Lens, who have suffered just one defeat in their opening eight matches. It is still early days but Franck Haise’s men are putting themselves in contention for a Champions League finish as they currently sit second, nine points behind Ligue 1 leaders PSG.
Lens’ good form sees them head into Friday’s clash with three wins from their last four Ligue 1 matches. They have however struggled defensively and have kept just one clean sheet in that run with seven goals conceded.
Reims were also victorious last time out in Ligue 1 as they saw off Nantes 3-1. Thomas Foket opened the scoring before Hugo Ekitike added a brace midway through the second half.
That result ended a run of two straight matches without a win for Reims, who have made an inconsistent start to the season. Their poor form sees them sitting down in the bottom half of the table with just two wins from eight matches this term.
Oscar Garcia’s men have been poor on their travels and have claimed just one win in their last seven away matches in Ligue 1, stretching back to last season. They were beaten 2-1 by Lille in their previous away fixture.
How the bookies view it
Lens have the upper hand among the bookies and are priced at 10/11 by SBK to claim the win. A victory for Reims is priced at 18/5 by betfair while a draw is set at odds of 5/2 by SBK.
Head to head
Lens have a 6-4 edge with five draws from 15 previous matches against Reims. They claimed a 2-1 victory over Reims in a friendly back in July.
Players to watch
Florian Sotoca often leads the line for Lens and was on target last time out against Marseille. He is priced at 23/10 by Paddy Power to score anytime while strike partner Ignatius Ganago has two goals this season and could also be considered in the same market at 12/5 with Betfred.
Hugo Ekitike has three goals for Reims this season, including a brace in the previous fixture against Nantes. The striker is priced at 7/2 by betfair to score anytime.
Anything else catch the eye?
Lens saw over 4.5 goals in their last fixture and could be set for a repeat at 8/1 with Unibet. Over 3.5 goals is valued at 16/5 by BetVictor while Paddy Power is offering odds of 6/5 for over 2.5 goals.
There were more goals before the break in Lens' last outing against Marseille, so the first half could be tipped as the highest scoring half at 9/4 with Skybet.
This French Ligue 1 match between RC Lens and Reims will be played on Oct 1, 2021 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best RC Lens vs Reims prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.