This is not going very strong for Reims, beaten in Lorient (1-0) last weekend and then eliminated in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France by a resident of Ligue 2, Valenciennes (3-4). Lens negotiated much better his midweek meeting by winning clearly on the lawn of Nantes (2-4) to go in the 16th. The Sang et Or are eight points ahead of their opponent of the day in the standings.
Stats to know (with Opta)
Reims has won 83% of their home matches against Lens in Ligue 1 (20/24), the highest percentage against a current resident of the championship. The only success of the Sang et Or in the field of Champenois dates back to September 2, 1945 (1-2).
Reims won only 2 of his last 22 matches against teams promoted in Ligue 1 (8 draws, 12 defeats), it was against Angers in February 2016 (2-1) and Brest in March 2020 (1-0).
Reims only lost 2 of his last 10 matches in Ligue 1 (5 wins, 3 draws), it was in Lille on January 17 (1-2) and in Lorient on February 6 (0-1).
Lens totals 36 points after 24 matches of Ligue 1 2020/21, each of the previous 36 promoted with at least as many points at this stage finished the season in the first half of the table, with 6 of the most recent 7 even qualifying for a European competition via the league.
Lens has not lost only one of his last 6 matches in Ligue 1 (2 wins, 3 draws), it was against Nice on January 23 (0-1).
Reims has not lost none of their last 6 home matches in Ligue 1 (3 wins, 3 draws), best current series, while the Champenois had lost in 4 of the previous 5 (1 victory).
Lens has already won 6 away games in Ligue 1 this season (2 draws, 4 defeats), his 2nd best total in the same year in the 21st century behind 2001/02 (8).
Only Farid Boulaya (42) and Jonathan Bamba (32) tried more shots from outside the box than Reims midfielder Mathieu Cafaro (31) in Ligue 1 this season (1 goal from this distance).
Wout Faes (Reims) and Yannick Cahuzac (Lens) are with Habib Maïga (Metz) the 3 players who received the most yellow cards in Ligue 1 this season (8 each).
Lens striker Florian Sotoca is the player whose shots were most often blocked by an opponent in Ligue 1 this season (17/54), while only Brendan Chardonnet (26) blocked more shots than Reims defender Wout Faes in 2020/21 (22).
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