Lens vs Montpellier Prediction & Betting Tips (8 December)

Lens' results are not good, as evidenced by its 3 victories and 3 defeats over the last few days, but the Sang et Or have the merit of having bounced back in Reims with a 0-2 victory in their last outing. A success which does good for the RCL, beaten at home by Marseille 1-3 before moving to Champagne. Will Still's team, lacking European competition this season, will want to remedy this next year. It occupies 7th place in the Ligue 1 rankings and will need to display more regularity in good results to compete with opponents like Nice and Lyon. Last team in the standings, Montpellier is better than in recent weeks.

The Hérault club has not had a series of defeats for a good month and has just snatched a draw at the end of the suspense, at home, against Lille 2-2 after being beaten by a short header at Saint- Etienne 1-0. It remains bottom of Ligue 1, of course, but is only 4 points behind the virtual play-off and 5 behind the first non-relegation club. There is still work to get out of the red zone but the MSHC has shown a burst of pride at times in the last meetings. 

Lens presents itself again without the executive piston Aguilar, Cabot in the same position, the striker Satriano who will return at the end of the season and the precious Saïd (2 goals), still in the offensive sector. Machado and Chavez are Will Still's two key men on the left lane. The first mentioned, suspended for an accumulation of yellow cards, should therefore allow his teammate to be lined up in the starting eleven. In Reims, Thomasson and Nzola were the Lens scorers. The latter scored his 4th goal in the current year.

 On the Montpellier side, the central defenders Kouyaté and Jullien who have been absent for a while, the center forward Adams (3 goals) and the young Ngosso will still be missed by Jean-Louis Gasset. The young offensive player Maamma (no goals), the midfielders Fayad and Touré as well as the left back replacing Mincarelli, absent from the last match, are uncertain. We must add this Sunday the absences due to suspension of the potentially starting midfielder Nzingoula, punished for having accumulated yellow cards, and of the offensive Coulibaly (1 goal), excluded against Lille.