Lens and Bordeaux will be looking to maintain their strong starts to the Ligue 1 season when they lock horns at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis on Saturday afternoon.
Lens triumphed over Lorient in a five-goal thriller last time out, while Bordeaux managed to keep Lyon at bay as they played out a goalless stalemate with Les Gones last week.
Match preview
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Fresh from their historic victory over champions Paris Saint-Germain, Lens had little time to recover before they travelled to a Lorient team with whom they had been promoted from the 2019-20 Ligue 2 campaign.
Lens stormed into a 2-1 lead just after the half-hour mark before substitute Ignatius Ganago added a third for the visitors, and while Yoane Wissa netted from the spot after Lens defender Loic Bade was sent off, Franck Haise's men held on for their second victory in a row.
Lens have managed to put their opening-day defeat to Nice behind them as they look to distance themselves from the drop zone at this early stage of the campaign, but Haise's side should not have any trouble staying up if they can carry this momentum forward.
Last season's Ligue 2 runners up have fixtures against Saint-Etienne and Lille to come in October, and the tough fixtures begin now for a Lens side coming up against a defence that is yet to be breached in the 2020-21 campaign.
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Bordeaux once again proved too difficult to break down even for a Lyon side packed with attacking talent, and the two Ligue 1 giants both walked away with a point apiece last Friday.
Jean-Louis Gasset has now witnessed his side take five points from a possible nine in the 2020-21 campaign, and Bordeaux are one of two sides yet to ship a goal in the new season - the other being Saint-Etienne.
Only the top three teams in Rennes, Monaco and Lille can boast a record of three opening matches without defeat, but Bordeaux must endeavour to turn draws into wins if they are to improve on last season's 12th-placed finish and push for a European berth.
Lens and Bordeaux last faced off in the 2014-15 campaign, and Bordeaux took the spoils over their opponents both times with two 2-1 victories, while Lens have not prevailed in a meeting with Les Girondins since 2011.
Lens Ligue 1 form: LWW
Bordeaux Ligue 1 form: DWD
Team News
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Lens will have to make do without Bade and Massadio Haidara owing to suspensions, but Issiaga Sylla will look to come back in on the left-hand side.
Seko Fofana is yet to make his debut for Lens since arriving from Udinese, but the midfielder could recover from a muscular problem in time for the weekend.
Up top, Ganogo will be hoping that his goal against Lorient is enough to earn him a starting place, potentially over Corentin Jean.
Meanwhile, Bordeaux have no fresh injury concerns heading into the weekend and are set to stick with the majority of the lineup from the draw with Lyon.
Centre-back Pablo is nearing a return to action but Saturday's fixture will most likely come too soon for the 29-year-old.
Jimmy Briand and Josh Maja both had to make do with places on the bench against Lyon, but one of the duo should spearhead the Girondins attack here.
Lens possible starting lineup:
Leca; Medina, Fortes, Gradit; Clauss, Fofana, Doucoure, Sylla; Kakuta; Ganogo, Sotoca
Bordeaux possible starting lineup:
Costil; Sabaly, Koscielny, Baysse, Benito; Basic, Otavio; Oudin, Adli, Kalu; Maja
We say: Lens 0-1 Bordeaux
Bordeaux's defence cannot keep top-flight French teams at bay forever, but Gasset's side have shown grit and determination in the early stages of the campaign despite only notching up two goals thus far, so we are backing the visitors to walk away with all three points in a tight battle this weekend.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a double chance bet on a home win or an away win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home/Away:data
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Bordeaux win with a probability of 37.28%. A win for Lens had a probability of 35.32% and a draw had a probability of 27.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bordeaux win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.82%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.04%) and 0-2 (6.71%). The likeliest Lens win was 1-0 (10.47%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.97%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 7.8% likelihood.
