Football | Monday, February 12, 2024 10:12 AM (Revised at: Thursday, February 15, 2024 9:52 AM)

Reims vs Lens Prediction: Team News and Lineups Preview

Reims vs Lens prediction, team news, lineups and fixtures preview - IMAGO / ZUMA Wire - Florian SOTOCA of Lens celebrates his goal during the French Cup match between RC Lens and AS Monaco.

Steve Wyss

French Football Expert

We have Reims vs Lens prediction, team news, lineups and fixtures preview for this Sunday afternoon Ligue 1 clash. French expert Steve Wyss talks us through the game with his best insights and top picks from the Champagne region. Will Still is one of the most highly rated young coaches in Europe but he faces a tough test against in-form Lens, who have lost just 2 of their last 16 matches in Ligue 1.

Our Reims vs Lens prediction is for Lens to win the match 2-0.

Reims vs Lens Prediction, Team News, Standings and Lineups Preview

In this article:

This week’s bettingexpert Football Podcast looking ahead at the weekend’s schedule

And if you’d rather see the Podcast, Daniel Jenkins, and Sam Ingram in all their glory, here’s the YouTube video.

Reims vs Lens Tip 1: Back Lens to continue good form

France, Ligue 1, Sunday 18th February, 16:05 (UK)

Lens now find themselves in sixth place after a run of three straight victories in Ligue 1. They suffered a bad start to the season, but in general, they have been much improved since the Autumn. In total, Les Sang et Or have won ten, drawn four and lost just two of their last 16 league fixtures. That is close to Championship-challenging form and certainly Champions League qualification at 2.13 points per game. Lens are on the up and their underlying numbers suggest they should be higher in the table. They continue to have an xG underachievement of nearly ten goals, but they appear to be correcting that trend.

Lens have a fantastic H2H record vs Reims. They are unbeaten in seven meetings against Will Still’s men and claimed a 2-0 victory earlier against them this season. Taking the visitors on a 0.0 Asian Handicap stands out as excellent value with full cover on the eventuality of a draw.

The visitors do play in the midweek Europa League vs Freiburg, but they haven’t been travelling and actually have a brilliant record after European games this season. Somewhat surprisingly, they had five wins and one draw after featuring in the UCL, so this is a team that clearly thrives on action and momentum.

They can cope with multiple games in one week just fine. Reims have lost six of their last ten Ligue 1 games, and Lens can add to that collection here.

Reims vs Lens Tip 1: Lens 0.0 Asian Handicap (TRACKED BET)
Best Odds: 2.00
Bookmaker: bet365
Stake: 10/10

Reims vs Lens Tip 2: Value on clean sheet potential

I like the idea of Lens winning this match to nil at 4.33, and I wouldn’t want to put off anyone backing that selection. But we already have some eggs in their basket with the 0.0 AH pick, so I’ll play it safer and back BTTS – No instead.

Lens away fixtures in Ligue 1 only average 1.90 goals per game, and they’ve kept an impressive seven clean sheets in their last eight on the road! Their setup can be quite hard to penetrate away from home with five at the back. Most of Lens’ poorer defensive performances came in the first two months of the season, and they have significantly improved.

Reims’ matches can be very mixed with the outcome, and the first goal is often the key. Four of their last six Ligue 1 fixtures have resulted in BTTS – No, and they have an attack force that is renowned for its inconsistency. The 0-0 draw is a possibility here, and if either side wins, then a tight 1-0 could be on the cards. Under 2.5 goals could also be potentially considered for this match, but it is worth noting that there have been at least two goals in seven of the last nine Lens fixtures.

The way I see this game is something like a 0-1 or 0-2 away victory, but we know that Lens sometimes underachieve in front of goal, so BTTS – No looks quite a solid pick in terms of a Reims vs Lens prediction at close to evens.

Reims vs Lens Tip 2: BTTS – No (TRACKED BET)
Best Odds: 1.95
Bookmaker: bet365
Stake: 9/10

Reims vs Lens Tip 3: David won’t Costa a lot

It’s rare that I would ever tip something at such a big price, but I think the best value goalscorer in this fixture is taking David Costa for Lens. He has been in a rich vein of form, scoring in all of his last three games and supplying an assist.

It really feels like the remainder of this season could be a huge breakthrough for the 23-year-old. For most of the campaign up until Christmas, he had to make do with bench appearances, and he also missed two months due to injury.

He has since locked down the starting spot in attacking midfield, just behind the two starting Lens strikers in a 3-4-2-1 system. Costa scored a wonderful goal against Toulouse three rounds ago, and it appears to have sparked him into life. He now fancies his chances of getting on the scoresheet, and I’m amazed that he’s as big at 8.50 to hit the back of the net here.

In the past, he has always played in a deeper role, but his advanced position in recent games makes him far more dangerous as a goalscorer and is the only reason I can think why he’s overpriced. These odds should be half of what are offered and represent excellent value.

Reims vs Lens Tip 3: David Costa to Score at Anytime (TRACKED BET)
Best Odds: 8.50
Bookmaker: bet365
Stake: 5/10

Reims vs Lens Predictions odds via bet365 as at 00:05, February 11th, 2024. Odds may now differ.

Reims vs Lens Team News and Possible Lineups: Rotation possible for Lens

At the time of writing, we don’t know the result of the Lens vs Freiburg match in the midweek Europa League, so be careful of any Lens injuries sustained in that fixture. We must also bear in mind possible rest and rotation because of this.

For Reims, striker Oumar Diakite will be back from AFCON duty but will likely only be on the bench anyway.

Reims possible starting lineup:
Diouf, Akieme, Abdelhamid, Okumu, Foket, Teuma, Stambouli, Munetsi, Ito, Daramy, Nakamura

Lens possible starting lineup:
Samba, Medina, Danso, Gradit, Frankowski, Abdul Samed, Diouf, Aguilar, Sotoca, Said, Wahi

The Predicted Reims vs Lens Ligue 1 Standings by BETSiE

Our in-house predictive model, BETSiE, has had a go at predicting the Ligue 1 standings ahead of the Reims vs Lens, currently 9th vs 6th, fixture by utilising the underlying data from the 2023/24 season up until this point.

For more league-specific BETSiE content including standings, probabilities and predictions, visit her page here – it’s worth it.

Reims vs Lens Standings

POSITION	CLUB	GAMES	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
1	Paris SG	34	22.3	7.7	4.0	78.2	33.2	45.1	74.6
2	Nice	34	18.2	9.5	6.2	41.4	23.5	17.9	64.2
3	Brest	34	17.1	9.4	7.5	52.0	31.8	20.3	60.8
4	Monaco	34	16.4	8.3	9.3	59.3	45.1	14.2	57.6
5	Lille	34	15.3	11.6	7.1	48.3	29.6	18.7	57.5
6	Marseille	34	14.3	11.4	8.3	50.7	35.5	15.2	54.4
7	Lens	34	14.9	8.3	10.8	45.4	37.8	7.6	53.0
8	Reims	34	14.7	6.6	12.7	46.0	44.1	2.0	50.6
9	Rennes	34	13.3	10.4	10.3	51.6	42.0	9.6	50.3
10	Strasbourg	34	11.1	10.7	12.2	38.3	43.4	-5.1	44.1
11	Montpellier	34	9.7	11.4	12.9	40.2	43.5	-3.3	40.4
12	Le Havre	34	8.9	12.4	12.7	38.0	45.5	-7.4	39.2
13	Lyon	34	9.7	7.3	17.0	38.9	55.1	-16.2	36.4
14	Toulouse	34	7.9	11.3	14.8	35.5	50.6	-15.1	34.9
15	Nantes	34	8.7	7.1	18.2	36.5	55.9	-19.4	33.2
16	Lorient	34	5.8	10.2	18.0	38.6	66.5	-27.9	27.7
17	Clermont	34	6.0	9.1	18.8	27.6	57.3	-29.7	27.2
18	Metz	34	6.5	7.4	20.1	27.6	53.9	-26.3	26.8

Match Stats: Lens looking to continue dominance vs Reims

Reims have a very mixed home record with 5 wins, 4 defeats and just one draw.
Lens have the third most under 2.5 goal games in Ligue 1 and their away fixtures average just 1.90 goals per game.
Lens have the second best xG in Ligue 1 (36.45) but have only scored 27 goals.
Lens are unbeaten in the last seven H2H meetings vs Reims, winning on four occasions.

Reims Fixtures: PSG fixture looms in the distance for Reims

Vs Le Havre (A)
Vs Lille (H)
Vs PSG (A)
Vs Metz (H)
Vs Lyon (A)

Lens Fixtures: Tough run of games for Lens both domestically and in Europe

Vs Freiburg (A)
Vs Monaco (H)
Vs Lyon (A)
Vs Brest (H)
Vs Nice (H)

SAFER GAMBLING

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