All eyes will be on the Stade Bollaert-Delelis for Saturday evening's marquee Ligue 1 fixture, as title outsiders Lens and Marseille clash in a tantalising podium contest.
The visitors enter the weekend sat one place and one point better off than Franck Haise's side, and both still harbour ambitions of dethroning a faltering Paris Saint-Germain at the top of the pile.
Match preview
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Not intimidated by the prospect of facing a Toulouse side who had just thumped Nantes 5-1 to win the Coupe de France, Lens harnessed every ounce of their defensive excellence to quell Les Violets' hitherto rampant attack in a 1-0 success at the Stadium Municipal on Tuesday.
There were no prizes for guessing who came up with the game-winning effort for Lens, as the red-hot Lois Openda continued his clinical run in front of goal with a well-taken header from Massadio Haidara's cross, banking his 18th strike of the campaign and his ninth from his last seven fixtures.
Thanks to a sixth win from seven Ligue 1 matches - the one aberration being last month's 3-1 loss to Paris Saint-Germain - Lens' Champions League destiny is in their own hands as they lie third in the table, eight points clear of Monaco and just six behind PSG with five games left to play.
A top-four finish could be guaranteed for Lens this weekend if results around them go in their favour, but title glory is still a distinct possibility for a side who were only promoted back to the big time in 2020, highlighting the exceptional work Haise has undertaken with a cheaply-assembled squad.
No side in the French top flight has collected more points at home this term than Lens, who have accumulated 43 from their 16 contests at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, although Haise's men face a proper test of their credentials against the best-performing away team that the nation has to offer.
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The Orange Velodrome faithful were as stunned as the Marseille players when Auxerre captain Birama Toure struck a sensational volley to open the scoring last Sunday - surely a goal of the season contender - but Igor Tudor's side would soon come storming back.
A well-taken Cengiz Under finish restored parity for Les Olympiens before a lethal combination involving two Arsenal players completed the comeback, as Matteo Guendouzi set Alexis Sanchez away to finish through the legs of Ionut Radu.
With three successive victories and an eight-game unbeaten run in Ligue 1 to shout about, Tudor's men are currently the best of the rest in second place with 70 points - only one better off than their upcoming hosts - and an unexpected three-way title race could very well go down to the wire.
While Lens have swept aside almost every foe in their path at home, Marseille make the long journey north having won nine and drawn one of their last 10 away fixtures, taking a league-high 39 points across the season and conceding a league-low 11 goals in the process.
Jorge Sampaoli led Marseille to a 2-0 win at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis last term, but that success represents the visitors' sole victory from their last five meetings with Les Sang et Or, who prevailed 1-0 at the Orange Velodrome earlier this season thanks to a David Costa strike.
Team News
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Lens midfielder Salis Abdul Samed will serve the third and final game of his suspension after his straight red card against PSG, while Jimmy Cabot, Wuilker Farinez (both ACL), Wesley Said (muscle) and Steven Fortes (knee) remain absent too.
Left-back Deiver Machado also sustained a minor muscle tear prior to Tuesday's win over Toulouse, although Haise is hopeful that the Colombian will be able to return to training before Saturday's crunch clash.
Nevertheless, Haidara deputised well in midweek with the assist for Openda's winner, and Haise may stick with that winning formula, unless Machado can prove his fitness in time to earn an instant recall.
Meanwhile, Marseille may only be working around the absences of Moroccan duo Amine Harit and Azzedine Ounahi, who are on the long road to recovery from season-ending knee and toe problems respectively. Eric Bailly is a doubt for unexplained reasons, but the Manchester United loanee would have only made the bench at best.
Tudor had seen enough from Issa Kabore after 45 minutes against Auxerre and hooked the 21-year-old at half time, so Arsenal loanee Nuno Tavares may be considered for a recall on Saturday.
Guendouzi also made quite the impact off the bench after being an unused substitute in his side's previous two matches, so a rejig in the final third might see Sanchez deployed as the target man, forcing Vitinha out of the XI in the process.
Lens possible starting lineup:
Samba; Medina, Danso, Gradit; Frankowski, Fofana, Onana, Haidara; Thomasson, Sotoca; Openda
Marseille possible starting lineup:
Lopez; Mbemba, Gigot, Kolasinac; Clauss, Rongier, Veretout, Tavares; Under, Guendouzi; Sanchez
We say: Lens 2-1 Marseille
While their second-placed standing is nothing to be scoffed at, Marseille needed a huge slice of luck to get over the line against Lyon and were unconvincing for 75 minutes against Auxerre, although their excellence on rival territory must also be taken in account.
However, Lens have been an almost unbreakable force at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis, and having recently taught Monaco a footballing lesson on home soil, we can envisage the Openda-inspired Sang et Or coming up trumps and leapfrogging their fellow podium contenders in this potentially season-defining showdown.
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Top tip
Ben Knapton
