Lens and Dijon to playout a cagey first leg

The stakes are high at Stade Bollaert-Delelis on Thursday night for the first leg of the Ligue 1 relegation playoff. Lens have battled their way to the final after scraping through against Paris FC on penalties and Troyes in extra time to meet a Dijon side with plenty of momentum in a winner takes all two-legged affair. If it was not for a second-half comeback which saw DCFO beat Toulouse 2-1 the team would have been confirmed as relegated to the second tier, but goals from Naim Sliti and Julio Tavares have given them a second chance at survival. If they can show half the character they did against Toulouse to give themselves this lifeline on Thursday then they have a good chance of completing what would be a truly great escape.

A tentative encounter

The pressure of a game like this makes it unlikely either manager will go particularly bold and attacking in their tactics. Lens have won their last three away matches including two in the playoffs to help them to this stage, so they will have belief they can go away to Dijon and be successful even without an impressive result in the first leg. Both of the last two matches between the two sides involved just two goals and before the playoffs 11 of Lens’ last 12 matches had brought two goals or less.

The hosts’ strong backline

Lens only finished fifth in Ligue 2 however they had the second-best defensive record and kept 12 clean sheets in their 19 home matches across the domestic season. In contrast Dijon struggled for goals throughout their Ligue 1 campaign with their top scorer, Tavares, only notching five times and only one of those goals coming away from home.

Lack of recent goals for both sides

The visitors additionally have not scored in their previous three away games and before that had only managed to score in one of their previous eight trips away from Stade Gaston Gérard. Similarly the current Ligue 2 side have only managed to score more than twice in two of their last fifteen matches. Amongst that run Lens failed to score in five matches out of six in a very disappointing April for the promotion pushers.

Determined Dijon to frustrate Lens and return with a foothold in the tie. Lens to draw or sneak a narrow victory in pursuit of ending their four-year absence from France’s top tier.

Lens – Dijon Betting Tip

Under 2.5 goals with Bet365 at odds of 8/15.

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