Our prediction for this Ligue 1 match:
St Etienne
Match Time & Date:
15/01/2022
17:00
Prediction: 1-2
Lens
St Etienne and Lens face each other at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in what is expected to be an interesting Ligue 1 encounter. St Etienne are fighting tooth and nail to secure the elite division survival, and seeing that they are five points behind the safe zone, Saturday’s clash is of big importance for the home team. All Moukoudi, Sow, Neyou, Khazri, and Bouanga, though, are on international duty, which is probably the main reason why home win should not be considered.
The Yellow-Reds, on the other hand, aim to build on a hard-fought 1-0 win over Rennes. Since Lens are eager to keep their Champions League hopes alive, we are tempted to put our money on the visiting team. Ganago and Haidara represent Cameroon and Mali respectively at the Africa Cup of Nations, while Deiver Machado is sidelined with a knee injury.
Highlighted Player (Ryad Boudebouz):
Despite being born in Colmar, France on February 19, 1990 Ryad Boudebouz represents Algeria on the international stage. The Montpellier midfielder played for both France U17 and France U19 teams in the past, but he made his senior debut with Algeria on May 28, 2010 in a friendly against Republic of Ireland.
Speaking of his club career, Boudebouz played for Colmar and Sochaux at youth level and he continued playing for Sochaux first team. After scoring 24 goals in 164 appearances in the league for the club, he moved to Bastia in 2013 and he played 66 games for les Bleus.
Ryad Boudebouz played for the Corsican side from 2013 to 2015 and he signed a four-year deal with Montpellier and you should know that he netted 11 goals in 33 appearances for la Paillade in the 2016/2017 Ligue 1 campaign. His main position is attacking midfield, but he is capable of playing at both left and right winger as well.
Highlighted Team (Lens):
Based in the Pas-De-Calais department, Lens is a French club that plays home games at Stade Bollaert-Delelis. The Sang et Or are well known for their red shirts with yellow stripes, while black is the dominant colour of their away jersey.
The club was founded back in 1906 and the Sang et Or originally played in green and black shirts. Speaking of their home ground, Stade Bollaert-Delelis can hold up to 38,058 spectators. The venue was opened back in 1933, and renovated during the 2014/15 season. Lens did well to win the Ligue 1 trophy in the 1997/98 season, with the team finishing the process level on points with second-place Metz.
As a result, the Sang et Or represented France in the Champions League group stages the following season. The club’s biggest European success came in the 1999/00 season when they made it to the UEFA Cup semis. Lens have won two Coupe de la Ligue trophies as well.
