Two sides seeking to bounce back from demoralising 1-0 defeats renew hostilities at the Stade Saint-Symphorien on Sunday, as Metz take on Lens in Ligue 1.
Les Grenats went down 1-0 to relegation rivals Saint-Etienne in gameweek 27, while Franck Haise's side lost at home to Brest.
Match preview
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With Metz coach Frederic Antonetti serving a lengthy touchline ban for an altercation with Lille chief Sylvain Armand last month, he helplessly watched on as his Grenats side once again left a top-flight game with no points and no goals to show for it.
Denis Bouanga's unorthodox finish in the 52nd minute - the Gabon international slipping as his effort curled into the top corner - handed Les Verts a deserved win on their own patch, and Metz's survival task is becoming more difficult by the week.
Having now failed to win any of their last six in the top flight - drawing three and losing three in that sequence - Metz remain below the dotted line in 19th, level on points with basement boys Bordeaux and three adrift of the safety of 17th place.
It is also three games without a goal for Antonetti's shot-shy crop, who have embarrassingly only managed to find the back of the net twice in their last eight Ligue 1 games to take their total for the season to 25 strikes - only Lorient (22) have managed fewer.
Metz's struggles for attacking inspiration can be largely put down to Ibrahima Niane's failure to kick on after recovering from his long-term injury, but Les Grenats need to find goals from somewhere if they are to build on a league-low eight points on home soil this weekend.
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Just as Lens appeared to be reigniting their charge for a European berth, Brest arrived at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis with other ideas, and the three-game unbeaten run Franck Haise's side had strung together came to an abrupt end on home soil.
While Brest goalkeeper Marco Bizot was certainly busy at the other end of the pitch - doing well to keep out Jonathan Clauss's goal-bound free kick - Les Pirates attacker Franck Honorat scored an impressive solo goal in the 59th minute to settle the contest in the visitors' favour.
A continued period of inconsistency leaves Lens trailing their fellow continental hopefuls by a small margin, as Sang et Or occupy 10th place in the table at the time of writing with a four-point gap to make up to fifth-placed Strasbourg, although Saturday's results could alter the rankings significantly.
An eighth game without a clean sheet in all competitions will no doubt come as a concern to Haise - and not since August have they recorded a shutout in Ligue 1 away from home - and a paltry tally of two wins from their last nine on the road have done their European aspirations no favours either.
Lens will take confidence from their 4-1 win over Metz earlier in the 2021-22 season, with that triumph ending a five-game winless run for Sang et Or against Les Grenats, who have picked up back-to-back 2-0 home wins over their visitors since 2018.
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Team News
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Metz's long-term suspension absentee Vincent Pajot is joined on the naughty step this weekend by Ibrahim Amadou - banned for an accumulation of yellow cards - so Tottenham Hotspur loanee Pape Sarr could earn a recall to the midfield.
Niane's absence in the 1-0 defeat to Saint-Etienne was seemingly a tactical decision - the same can be said for Sikou Niakate - while Fabien Centonze, Matthieu Udol, Habib Maiga and Lenny Lacroix continue their recoveries.
In a desperate bid to end Metz's dismal run without a goal, the hosts may opt to freshen up the attack with either Lenny Joseph or Papa Ndiaga Yade joining Nicolas de Preville in the final third.
Meanwhile, Lens have their own suspension concern to work around in the form of Przemyslaw Frankowski, although he was only brought on as a substitute for the final 15 minutes against Brest anyway.
Strikers Corentin Jean and Wesley Said both occupy spots in the treatment room, but Haise has no fresh injuries to worry about from last weekend and is unlikely to shuffle the pack despite that defeat.
Ignatius Ganago provides an alternative option up front, but Florian Sotoca and Arnaud Kalimuendo will hope to keep their partnership going for the time being.
Metz possible starting lineup:
Caillard; Bronn, Kouyate, Kana-Biyik; Nguette, Sarr, Traore, Cande; Boulaya; De Preville, Yade
Lens possible starting lineup:
Leca; Medina, Danso, Gradit; Clauss, Fofana, Doucoure, Haidara; Kakuta; Sotoca, Kalimuendo
We say: Metz 0-2 Lens
It is extremely difficult to predict where the goals may come from in the Metz side while Niane remains out of favour, although Lens were not exactly clinical last weekend either.
Sang et Or's inability to keep things watertight at the back does spell optimism for Les Grenats, but Haise's side will view this encounter as the ideal opportunity to regain a measure of confidence and keep the pressure on the European pack, so we are backing them to do just that.
Top tip
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 Lens win with a probability of 52.05%. A draw had a probability of 25% and a win for Metz had a probability of 22.93%.
The most likely scoreline for a Lens win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.22%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (9.78%) and 1-2 (9.51%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.87%), while for a Metz win it was 1-0 (7.42%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 7.6% likelihood.
