High-flying Lens travel to Stade de la Mosson to take on Montpellier in the 10th game of this developing Ligue 1 season.
The hosts have had a fairly disappointing start to their campaign and sit 13th in the table, whilst their visitors are overperforming up in second place.
Match preview
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Montpellier have produced a mixed season to this point, with two wins, four draws and three defeats from their first eight games.
After losing their opening game of the new season at home to Marseille, they accumulated nine points from a possible 15, before suffering an understandable loss away against Paris Saint-Germain, and finally heading into the international break with another draw.
Florent Mollet's goal in the 12th minute was cancelled out by Strasbourg's Kevin Gameiro just before the half-hour mark, and neither side was able to find a winner, which is perhaps why they both find themselves stuck in mid-table.
That result means that Olivier Dall'Oglio has seen his side go four games and now over a month without a win and he will be determined to rectify that against a team who they have beaten twice in their last three encounters.
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This is not the Lens side of last season, however.
Franck Haise's men finished seventh in Ligue 1 last term, which represented an impressive campaign on their return to the top level, and many fans would have been happy to see the team simply consolidate themselves as a top-half regular this season.
They have gone far beyond that, though, losing just once in their first nine games - against Strasbourg in their seventh match this season - and winning the other four of their five most recent games.
Their most recent game was a comfortable 2-0 victory at home against 10-man Reims, with Arnaud Kalimuendo grabbing a brace via a penalty in first-half stoppage time and a neat finish from a pinpoint Florian Sotoca through-ball early in the second half.
That run of form leaves Lens in a very strong second place and Haise will be confident of further strengthening their grip on the position this weekend.
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Team News
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Montpellier HSC possible starting lineup:
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Head To Head
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We say: Montpellier HSC X-Y Lens
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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 Montpellier HSC win with a probability of 38.16%. A win for Lens had a probability of 36.84% and a draw had a probability of 25%.
The most likely scoreline for a Montpellier HSC win was 2-1 with a probability of 8.46%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (8.31%) and 2-0 (5.99%). The likeliest Lens win was 1-2 (8.28%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.73%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with an 8.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Montpellier HSC would win this match.
