Montpellier vs Lens prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2025-01-30 19:45.
[p]Back-to-back victories in Ligue 1 for the first time this season have moved Montpellier to within three points of safety. Sitting on 15 points, Montpellier could provisionally move level with the two sides closest to the bottom-three with a third straight league win for the first time since March 2023, although to do so they’ll have to beat Lens for the first time since October 2021 (D3, L3).[/p]
[p]Playing at home should be a positive for Montpellier, who have posted a positive record across their last five home league games despite failing to keep a clean sheet in any (W2, D2, L1), all whilst scoring six equalisers in the process. An equalising goal won’t guarantee too much here as boss Jean-Louis Gasset has never played out a draw against Lens (W3, L4), and with only two of those seven games seeing both teams score, the first goal could be key.[/p]
[p]Fighting at the opposite end of the table with the chance to provisionally move into the European places, Lens travel here on the back of some inconsistent form across the last five Ligue 1 rounds (W2, D1, L2) but have the chance to notch their first back-to-back wins of 2025. That form is identical to boss Will Still’s personal record against Montpellier, which includes a 2-0 win in this season’s reverse fixture. [/p]
[p]Playing away shouldn’t faze Still’s men as they go in search of completing a H2H double, as after coming from behind to win in their latest Ligue 1 game on their travels, they have now lost only one of their last ten away league trips (W4, D5). Only PSG and Marseille can boast a stronger away league record than Lens this season, who also impressively managed to avoid defeat when conceding first on three of four such away occasions this season (W1, D2, L1). [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Defender Mobido Sagnan was the unlikely first scorer for Montpellier last weekend, but he is much more likely to attract a different kind of attention with four yellows in his last nine appearances. Przemyslaw Frankowski scored Lens’ winner last weekend (W1-0), meaning he’s now opened the scoring with six of his last seven club goals.[/p]
[p]Hot stat: Montpellier have avoided defeat in six of their last seven Friday-held Ligue 1 games (W3, D3, L1). [/p]
[p][i]Written by Matthew Billon[/i][/p]