Coach: Antoine Kombouare
Stadium: Stade Felix Bollaert-Delelis
Last Season: 20th in Ligue 1
DEFENCE
The no1 keeper for Lens this year will be Joris Delle. The ex-Metz and Nice man did once look set to have a promising future, but has regressed in recent years. Injuries haven’t helped so he’ll hope to have a clean bill of health this term. Delle should be reasonable enough at this level but I doubt he’ll be anything special. The backline has lost the likes of Baal and Kantari, and it looks like young stud Loic Landre will be out of the door soon as well. The versatile JP Gbamin looks set to remain but everyone else in defence is a new signing. Jordan Ikoko arrives on loan from PSG, but he’s been a flop in his two previous loans at Ligue 2 level, failing to even start regularly at Creteil and Le Havre. Two fullback additions are ex-Nice man Anthony Scaramozzino (left) and Kenny Lala (right) from Valenciennes. Both will be competent enough although aren’t what you’d call serious quality. Finally, a new centre back is Stephane Besle from Swiss side St Gallen. Talk so far in preseason is that he’s been extremely error prone which doesn’t bode well. Youngster Taylor Moore is worth keeping an eye on – he could break through this year, but overall I’d say Lens are only just above average in defence.
MIDFIELD
Jerome Lemoigne has left the club and he’ll be missed a little bit, but overall Lens seem in reasonable shape midfield-wise. The presumption is that Pierrick Valdivia will now stay, and if that’s the case then he’ll be a key man for them. Guirane N’Daw has signed from Metz and Les Sang et Or know that he should add a strong physical presence to their side. N’Daw can have some issues though and concentration isn’t his strongest suit. Wylan Cyprien and Benjamin Bourigeaud are a couple of younger players I like in this area of the field. Both are fairly versatile and have potential, but admittedly remain on the raw side. It has to be mentioned that Lens have some good wide midfielders, Lalaina Nomenjanahary and Pablo Chavarria, along with a couple of others should go well in those positions, which is important because Lens will often play a genuine 4-4-2 formation. The northerners perhaps lack a proper central ‘stud’ but overall they look reasonably strong here and it looks to be their best area.
ATTACK
Lens desperately struggled to score goals in Ligue 1 last season, only netting 32 times which was abysmal. Top scorer Yoann Touzghar (8) has now left the club and truth be told they do seem to be lacking striker options. Deme N’Diaye is maybe their only recognisable out-and-out front man, a number of other guys playing upfront will be slightly out of position. The aforementioned Chavarria is expected to stay at the club and can play the striker role, but he’s more natural out wide. The same can be said about new signing Mathias Autret. Lens have some good wingers and should be able to create enough chances, but who can finish them? They’ve signed Jonathan Nanizayamo from Tours, but he did virtually nothing for them last season so I’m not expecting much from him this time around either. Les Sang et Or need to sign at least one proven quality striker. If not, they’ll continue to ‘look good’ on the eye by creating chances, but constantly miss them!
COACHING
Lens do have a weapon in coach Antoine Kombouare. He is vastly experienced and usually gets the most out of his team. He played a major part getting them promoted a couple of years ago but I do wonder exactly how much motivation and fight he has left in the tank. Last year was an extremely draining campaign for Lens with all sorts of issues both on and off the field. Kombouare is as tough as it gets mentally but I expected him to move on and take some time off. Some good news for Les Sang et Or this season is that they’ll be returning to their home stadium. Le Stade Felix Bollaert is comfortably the biggest in the ligue with a capacity of nearly 40,000. This can be a really intimidating place when full, although if Lens aren’t playing well it can backfire on team as they receive abuse.
CONCLUSION
I mentioned in my Metz preview how relegated sides have struggled in recent seasons. Lens are a massive club and truly belong in Ligue 1, but they lack financial clout these days and have endured a lot of turmoil both on and off the field in the last 12 months. They’ve played quite a lot of ligue 2 football in the last five years so should be able to adapt to the division, but I feel the tough nature of the previous campaign will still be felt. They are currently lacking extra quality in all areas of the field. Whilst they shouldn’t be too bad, I just think Les Sang et Or lack the overall strength to challenge the top 5 or 6 teams.
Prediction – 10th