Two European-chasing teams in Ligue 1 will lock horns at the Stade de la Meinau on Sunday lunchtime when Strasbourg play host to Lens.
The Racers have only lost one of their last 11 league games, while the visitors have won just five of their last 16 top-flight matches.
Match preview
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While a seven-game unbeaten league run will have pleased Strasbourg head coach Julien Stephan, four of their last five matches have ended as draws, and they have subsequently missed the chance to climb into the Champions League positions.
Solitary points claimed against Saint-Etienne, Nice and Reims were followed by a slender 1-0 victory over Monaco; however, the Racers were unable to break down a resilient Lorient backline in their most recent game last month and were forced to settle for a goalless draw.
Strasbourg have dropped eight points in their last five matches and as a result are sitting fifth in the Ligue 1 table, four points behind Rennes in third with nine games remaining.
With Rennes and fourth-placed Nice to face each other this weekend, Stephan's side have a good opportunity to close in on their European-chasing rivals, although securing maximum points against Lens is not a given on Sunday.
Strasbourg have only won one of their last five home matches in the league against Lens, and suffered a 2-1 defeat against them in last season's clash at the Stade de la Meinau.
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Lens are also still in the hunt for a European spot this season, as they sit ninth in the Ligue 1 standings, just four points behind fifth-placed Strasbourg, who occupy the Europa Conference League position.
Les Sang et Or failed to win and score in their opening two league matches in March, but ended the month on a high with a 3-1 victory at home against Clermont.
After going behind in the ninth minute through Elbasan Rashani, Lens turned the game on its head with strikes from Kevin Danso, Florian Sotoca and Massadio Haidara, the former two netting their first goals of the campaign.
Franck Haise's side will be confident of qualifying for European competition for the first time since 2007 and a victory away at Strasbourg this weekend would certainly boost their chances.
With challenging fixtures against the likes of Nice, Lille and Paris Saint-Germain still to come, securing all three points at the Stade de la Meinau may be required if they wish to finish in the top five.
As mentioned earlier, Lens beat Strasbourg on the road last season, but they suffered defeat against the Racers on home soil this term, losing 1-0 in September.
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Team News
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Strasbourg will be without Adrien Thomasson (thigh), Maxime Le Marchand (back) and Ismael Doukoure (knee) due to injury.
Centre-back Lucas Perrin will serve a one-match suspension, due to an accumulation of yellow cards, with Anthony Caci the most likely candidate to join Gerzino Nyamsi and Alexander Djiku in the back three.
Top scorer Ludovic Ajorque, who scored the only goal in Strasbourg's away win at Lens earlier this season, is set to lead the line in attack alongside Kevin Gameiro.
As for Lens, Corentin Jean remains sidelined with a knee injury, while Danso and Sotoca will both serve one-game bans due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
Facundo Medina is available having served his own one-match suspension last time out and he is set to replace Danso in the back three, with Arnaud Kalimuendo-Muinga expected to start in attack at the expense of Sotoca.
Strasbourg possible starting lineup:
Sels; Caci, Nyamsi, Djiku; Guilbert, Sissoko, Prcic, Bellegarde, Lienard; Gameiro, Ajorque
Lens possible starting lineup:
Farinez; Wooh, Gradit, Medina; Clauss, Fofana, Doucoure, Frankowski; Costa; Kalimuendo-Muinga, Ganago
We say: Strasbourg 2-1 Lens
A closely-fought contest is set to be played out between two evenly-matched sides on Sunday, though both teams will fancy their chances of success.
Considering Strasbourg's recent unbeaten run and their threat in the final third, they may just do enough to claim a slender victory on home soil.
Oliver Thomas
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 Strasbourg win with a probability of 44.12%. A win for Lens had a probability of 29.7% and a draw had a probability of 26.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Strasbourg win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.99%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.96%) and 2-0 (7.92%). The likeliest Lens win was 0-1 (8.65%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.45%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 11% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Strasbourg in this match and our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted the win for Strasbourg.
