The “Doggies” confidently dealt with the Austrian Sturm in the round of 16 of the Conference League and will now play against Aston Villa in the quarterfinals. However, for Lille, the main goal remains returning to the Champions League. The team coached by Fonseca is three points behind Monaco, who currently holds the third position. However, the team’s recent results in Ligue 1 have not been particularly pleasing. For instance, in the last five rounds, Lille has only managed to secure two victories: at home against Le Havre (3-0) and away against Reims (1-0). At the same time, there was an unexpected defeat to Toulouse (1-3), as well as two consecutive draws against Rennes at home (2-2) and Brest away (1-1) in the last round. It’s worth noting that Lille plays very confidently at home, having lost only one match out of eight.
As for Lens, after a disastrous start to the season when they found themselves at the bottom of the table, the team not only managed to climb out of the basement but also entered the race for the Champions League. Currently, Lens occupies the sixth position, but their gap from Brest, who are second, is only five points. In the last league match, the team suffered a 1-3 defeat at home against Nice. Overall, it’s worth noting that recently the “blood-and-gold” have been performing poorly at home. They suffered defeats against Monaco in Ligue 1 and in the Cup, against PSG in the championship, and a draw with Freiburg in the Europa League. However, their away form has been much better. In the last four matches, Lens has secured three victories and one draw on the road.
