Valenciennes will hope to utilise their home advantage to help bridge the gap to today's opponents. The home side are currently 11 points behind Lens.
We should expect both teams to be fresh and ready for this match, as there is some time since both teams last played. Let's have a look at how the teams are doing!
Valenciennes form and stats
The story so far in the Ligue 2 for Valenciennes at their home stadium (Stade du Hainaut) is 2 wins, 3 draws and 2 defeats.
Happy days for Valenciennes in their previous game, a Ligue 2 match away at Orléans (placed 20th) that ended with a 1-0 victory. A strong away win before that one, visiting Saint-Maximin and winning 2-0.
There's a new game coming up fairly quickly for Valenciennes as they are travelling to their away game against Auxerre in the Ligue 2. That match is four days after this one.
Valenciennes aren't scoring a lot here at Stade du Hainaut in the league, with only 4 goals from 7 games. Valenciennes have only conceded 5 from their league home games. For more goal stats, check the Statistics tab above.
Lens form and stats
The story so far for the visiting team, who have the most scored goals (24) in Ligue 2, on their Ligue 2 travels is 4 wins, 3 draws and 1 defeat. Things are running smoothly for Lens who hasn't tasted defeat in their last ten matches, regardless of venue and tournament. Their last defeat was against Troyes.
The supporters enjoyed Lens's previous game versus Sochaux (placed 5th), a Ligue 2 4-0 win played at home. That result followed a home victory 3-1 versus Boulogne in the Coupe de France.
As mentioned above, Lens was the only team on the pitch versus Sochaux in their previous game, winning 4-0. This could be a tougher task.
A quick return to home after this game, as Lens are hosting Chambly in the Ligue 2 only four days away.
Lens has displayed an ability to score goals in away matches in the league this season, 13 goals from 8 games. 8 goals have been conceded by Lens in these games.
Head 2 Head
Head-to-head totals (for the last ten meetings): Valenciennes won 3 games, 4 matches ended with a draw and Lens has 3 wins. Over 2,5 goals / under 2,5 goals: 3 / 7Top Goalscorers
  T. Chevalier 4 goals |   T. Mauricio 4 goals |  G. Robail 4 goals |
Valenciennes missing players
Lens missing players
| Valenciennes | Lens | ||||||
| Total | Home | vs | Statistics | Stat | vs | Away | Total |
| 15 | 7 | 1 | Played | P | 4 | 8 | 15 |
| 5 | 2 | 0 | Won | W | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| 5 | 3 | 1 | Drew | D | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | 2 | 0 | Lost | L | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | 4 | 0 | Scored | S | 5 | 13 | 24 |
| 10 | 5 | 0 | Conceded | C | 4 | 8 | 12 |
| 80% | 86% | 0% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 75% | 88% | 87% |
| 33% | 43% | 0% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 75% | 88% | 73% |
| 7% | 0% | 0% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 50% | 50% | 47% |
| 0% | 0% | 0% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 25% | 25% | 27% |
| 0% | 0% | 0% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 0% | 12% | 7% |
| 20% | 29% | 0% | BTTS | BTTS | 75% | 62% | 47% |
| 47% | 43% | 100% | Clean Sheets | C S | 25% | 25% | 47% |
| 53% | 43% | 100% | Failed to Score | F T | 25% | 25% | 20% |
| 3.9 | 3.6 | 4 | Corners For (avg) | C F | 5.2 | 4.8 | 4.6 |
| 5.7 | 4.3 | 6 | Corners Against (avg) | C A | 5.2 | 5.4 | 4.9 |
| 2.3 | 2.7 | 3 | Yellow Cards (avg) | Y C | 2 | 1.4 | 2.1 |
| 3 | 3 | 0 | Red Cards | R C | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 152 | 94 | 7 | Total Shots | T S | 40 | 76 | 155 |
| 43 | 25 | 0 | Shots on Target | S O | 19 | 32 | 67 |
| 19% | 16% | 0% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 26% | 41% | 36% |
- Lens has the most points from losing position (11)
- Lens has the most scored goals (24)
- Lens has the most scored goals in the second half (17)
- Lens have played more matches over 2,5 goals away than home.
- Lens have scored more than double the goals of Valenciennes.
- Lens is in the best form (4-2-0)
- Valenciennes has the fewest conceded goals (10)
- Valenciennes has the fewest matches over the total-line (1)
- Valenciennes has the fewest scored goals in the second half (4)
- Valenciennes has the most matches under the total-line (13)
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Lens | 15 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 24 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 8 | 12 | 31 |
| 2 | Lorient | 15 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 23 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 7 | 12 | 30 |
| 3 | Ajaccio | 15 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 18 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 27 |
| 4 | Troyes | 15 | 8 | 2 | 5 | 17 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 26 |
| 5 | Sochaux | 15 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 13 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 25 |
| 6 | Le Havre | 15 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 23 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 10 | 7 | 22 |
| 7 | Clermont | 15 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 16 | 16 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 8 | 0 | 22 |
| 8 | Grenoble Foot 38 | 15 | 4 | 9 | 2 | 14 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 21 |
| 9 | Guingamp | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 23 | 21 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 14 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 2 | 20 |
| 10 | Nancy | 15 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 15 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 20 |
| 11 | Valenciennes | 15 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | -2 | 20 |
| 12 | Rodez | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 19 | 20 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 11 | -1 | 18 |
| 13 | Auxerre | 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 18 | 17 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 1 | 17 |
| 14 | Niort | 15 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 14 | 18 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 9 | -4 | 17 |
| 15 | Caen | 15 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 16 | 20 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 8 | -4 | 16 |
| 16 | Chambly | 15 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 17 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 6 | -6 | 16 |
| 17 | Paris | 15 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 19 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 8 | -9 | 15 |
| 18 | Châteauroux | 15 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 16 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 9 | -9 | 14 |
| 19 | Le Mans | 15 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 16 | 26 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 16 | -10 | 14 |
| 20 | Orléans | 15 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 19 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 7 | -9 | 9 |