Lens vs AC Ajaccio prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2023-05-26 19:00.
Lens have left no stone unturned in their run-in to the penultimate round of the 2022/23 Ligue 1 season, after a come-from-behind 3-1 victory over Lorient last time out secured their ninth win in ten matches (L1) and fifth on the trot. They’ve all but wrapped up second place as a result, meaning they’ll feature in next season's UEFA Champions League group stages for the first time since 2002/03!
That is unless a cataclysmic meltdown sees them surrender their five-point advantage over third-placed Marseille with two matches to go. A win here would be the final nail in the coffin of Marseille’s hopes, and since Franck Haise’s Lens team have the league’s best defence and are facing an already relegated AC Ajaccio who possess the league’s most goal shy offence, the odds have rarely been more in their favour.
The reverse fixture was indicative of those tags with Ajaccio failing to break down Lens in a 0-0 draw way back in August, which was one of only five clean sheets Olivier Pantaloni’s men have kept all season. Not even an industrial washer could help Ajaccio keep a clean sheet recently, after suffering back-to-back 5-0 losses to champions-elect PSG and Rennes respectively.
Away from home the Bears have seemingly been hibernating in defence too, having lost six successive matches by conceding 17 times and scoring only twice. Their only consolation seems to be the fact they’ve given Lens a run for their money recently, splitting the difference with that draw earlier in the season after two wins and two losses in the four H2Hs prior.
Players to watch: Lens captain Seko Fofana has led from the front with three goals in as many games recently, stretching his Ligue 1 winning streak when getting on the scoresheet to ten. Meanwhile, just getting on the scoresheet will be an achievement for Ajaccio, and since six of Mounaïm El Idrissy’s last eight goals have come away from home, he might be the man they look to.
Hot stat: Lens have only lost three of the last 62 Ligue 1 games where they scored first (W46, D13).