Lens-Auxerre preview: Openda to keep shooting?
Openda is Belgium’s top scorer in Europe’s top five leagues after finding the net for the ninth time this season in a 2-2 draw with Strasbourg on Wednesday. The 22-year-old summer arrival, second only to Reims’ Folarin Balogun among Ligue 1 debutants this season, saved his side a point in Alsace with the equalizer and the game’s fourth goal in a flurry of strikes in the first half. .
WATCH: Lens held in Strasbourg
“We’re going to keep doing what we’ve been doing, our attitude, the quality of our players, that’s what’s going to count,” said coach Franck Haise, whose team lost just one times – 1-0 at Lille in Round 10 – in their last 18 league matches, their best run since finishing fourth in 2005/06.
“Whatever the opponent and whatever the context, you have to try to start strong, but you also have to keep going and finishing. If you start strong for 10 minutes and then fall asleep…consistency is all through the duration of the game. We can have this determination to start strong, but what I want to see is that we have an impact throughout a game.
Despite pelting Strasbourg keeper Matz Sels with eight shots on target (from 15 attempts), Haise’s men failed to break their opponents, who are second from bottom of the table, to drop points for the second time in three league matches.
But they were very strong at the Stade Félix Bollaert where nine straight wins have come in as many home matches with a passionate home crowd giving Lens a major advantage. Florian Sotoca’s form has also been important to their success – he joins Paris Saint-Germain superstar duo Lionel Messi and Neymar as one of three players to register more than five goals and five assists this season after scoring Openda’s goal, and could well hold the key to unlocking the Auxerre back line.
“It’s a game between two teams with different characteristics even though Auxerre can play in different systems and go five behind,” added Haise, who is expected to have new Strasbourg signing Adrien Thomasson available to make his debut. “They have just suffered a big home defeat, and when that happens you want to make amends. As a result, I have no doubt it will be another tough game against a well-organized side.”
The pair’s form couldn’t be more polarized, with Auxerre having lost 11 of their 18 games this season – their worst record at this stage of a top-flight campaign – winning just three times to enter Round 19 third from bottom of the whiteboard .
WATCH: Auxerre get torn apart by Toulouse
Toulouse’s 5-0 home defeat on Wednesday – their second 5-0 loss in four games – marked the Burgundy club’s biggest home defeat, but Christophe Pelissier’s men are just two points short of outright safety and simple, so ending their four-fight losing streak could bring them one step closer to top-flight survival.
“When you have evenings like that, you have to quickly forget it but also talk to the players a lot. They also wanted to talk to each other. We have to show another face, we have 20 games left,” said Pelissier. , who is without the injured Gideon Mensah. “It’s extraordinary to go and play at Bollaert. But you don’t just have to go there and play. I want a team that shows something there, because to get a result, you’re going to have to put in an extraordinary performance. “
Probable teams
Lens: Samba; Medina, Gradit, Danso; Frankowski, Fofana, Salis Samed, Machado; Claude-Maurice, Openda, Sotoca
Auxerre: costil; Zedadka, Jeanvier, Jubal, Mensah; Touré, Sakhi; Sinayoko, Abline, Raveloson; niang
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