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Sports Mole previews Saturday’s Ligue 1 clash between Monaco and Lens, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
A top five showdown in Ligue 1 will take place in the Principality on Saturday as Monaco host Lens at Stade Louis II on matchday 12.
Les Monegasques dropped down to fifth in the table following a 1-0 defeat to Paris FC, putting them two points and two places below Lens, with the latter beating Lorient 3-0.
Match preview
Monaco have been a difficult team to wrap your head around throughout this campaign, and their unpredictability was on display last week.
Their six-match unbeaten run across all competitions ended at the hands of Paris FC, though they followed that up with their first Champions League triumph of the season versus Bodo/Glimt on Tuesday (1-0).
This weekend, Monaco could suffer consecutive home defeats in this competition for the first time since December 2023 to January 2024.
They could also get shut out for a third time domestically at home this year, which would be one more than we witnessed at Stade Louis II in 2024.
Under Sebastien Pocognoli, they have yet to concede an opening half goal in the Principality, while the Belgian has seen his side collect three clean sheets since taking charge.
All six of their victories in the top-flight this season occurred when this team netted in the opening half, with Les Monegasques scoring a combined 19 goals in those triumphs.
It did not take RC Lens very long to find their form again, following up a disappointing 2-0 defeat at Metz with a convincing triumph last weekend.
Coming into this match, they have collected points in six of their previous seven league fixtures, winning four of those last five outings.
Two of their three defeats domestically this season have come away from home, and on Saturday, they will aim to avoid suffering consecutive road losses in this competition for the first time since February.
Lens have triumphed in their previous 10 league outings in which they have netted multiple times, doing so on seven occasions so far in the 2025-26 season.
The last six times that they have scored an opening half goal in the league away from home this team have emerged victorious, with Pierre Sage’s side achieving this in two games as the visitors thus far.
Les Sang et Or have won three of their previous four competitive meetings versus Monaco, but have not beaten them at Stade Louis II since 2023 (4-1).
Monaco Ligue 1 form:
Monaco form (all competitions):
Lens Ligue 1 form:
Team News
A groin strain is likely to keep Monaco captain Denis Zakaria on the sidelines for another game, Vanderson has a knock, Lamine Camara is dealing with a sore ankle and Eric Dier remains doubtful due to muscle pain.
A head injury could see Krepin Diatta sit out of this match, Christian Mawissa has a hamstring issue, Paul Pogba is recovering from an ankle problem and Lukas Hradecky is close to returning from a knee injury but may be another week or two away.
On the Lens side, we saw three new faces in their starting 11 the last time out with Malang Sarr, Ruben Aguilar and Wesley Said replacing Saud Abdulhamid, Deiver Machado and Abdallah Sima.
Odsonne Edouard, Said and Samson Baidoo all found the back of the net for them against Lorient, while Robin Risser made four stops for his third clean sheet of the campaign.
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Kohn; Kehrer, Salisu, Henrique; Fati, Teze, Coulibaly, Ouattara; Akliouche, Golovin; Balogun
Lens possible starting lineup:
Risser; Gradit, Baidoo, Sarr; Aguilar, Sangare, Thomasson, Udol; Thauvin, Sotoca; Edouard
We say: Monaco 1-2 Lens
We trust that a balanced Lens side will find a way to expose Monaco, who, because of injuries, have several players who have had to log a lot of minutes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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