Le Havre v Lens

Le Havre vs Lens Preview

Next up is a look ahead to this upcoming lower half table clash in the French top flight between 13th placed Le Havre and 14th placed Lens when the two teams meet at the Stade Océane on Friday night with both teams keen to pull further away from the early relegation places in the division.

It's been a period of 14 years since Le Havre last found themselves rubbing shoulders with the elite of the French clubs and the hosts have made a fairly encouraging start to this new Ligue 1 season as they have managed to capture two wins and three draws, but have also slipped to three defeats as well within their opening eight league matches.

Victories against Lorient and Clermont have kept the hosts out of immediate danger for the time being but having suffered back-to-back defeats just before the international break to the likes of Lille and Marseille, Luka Elsner's side will be eager to halt their slide with a positive result here on Friday night.

There are encouraging signs though for the hosts here as they have picked up two wins from their opening four home games at Stade Océane and this may set them up nicely for a possible win against Lens.

Lens were narrowly pipped at the post in last season's Ligue 1 title race by an unconvincing PSG outfit who claimed the title by the slenderest of margins with just one point separating the two sides at the end of the campaign.

However, Lens have so far been unable to match last season's heroic exploits as the visitors currently find themselves sitting in a disappointing 14th place in the Ligue 1 table and just a point above the relegation play-off spot ahead of this tricky looking outing to face Le Havre at the Stade Océane on Friday night.

A horrific start to this new Ligue 1 campaign saw Lens fail to win any of their opening five league games and indeed slumping to four defeats within these opening five matches in losses to Brest, PSG, Monaco and Metz, but although the visitors have subsequently found their feet on the domestic front, they are now competing in the Champions League this season as well.

Subsequent domestic wins against Toulouse and Strasbourg along with gaining a creditable point in a draw with Lille seems to suggest Lens are on the way back but having lost three of their opening four away games so far this season, Lens are by no means guaranteed a result here on Friday night.

Le Havre v Lens Verdict

Le Havre will be desperate to keep things tight against Lens whom they may just fancy sneaking a narrow win against, considering Lens' early problems on the road this term.

Therefore, our main bet will be Under 2.5 goals @ 1.95

Other side bets worth considering:

Le Havre win @ 4.75

Correct score: Le Havre 2-0 @ 23.00