Nice vs Lens 23/08/20

23 August 2020

OGC Nice’s 2020/21 Ligue 1 campaign gets underway this weekend as they welcome newly-promoted Lens to the Allianz Riviera.

Five of Nice’s eight pre-season friendlies have featured over 2.5 goals, with the last three producing over 4.5 goals and two seeing both teams score. ‘Les Aiglons’ avoided defeat in the final four Ligue 1 games of the previous season (W2, D2), scoring over 1.5 goals on three of those occasions. The Allianz Riviera has been a venue of entertainment this calendar year, as six of Nice’s eight competitive games here since the turn of 2020 have seen over 2.5 goals and both teams on the scoresheet. Although Patrick Vieira’s side are unbeaten in four top-flight home H2Hs with Lens (W2, D2), it’s worth noting that it’s their first Ligue 1 clash since 2015.

On the other hand, Lens finished runners-up to Lorient in Ligue 2 to return to the top-flight for the first time since 2014/15. The majority (77.78%) of Lens’ competitive games this calendar year have been notably tight, as seven of nine have featured under 2.5 goals. What’s more, ‘Sang et Or’ have netted under 1.5 goals in all but one of those nine matches, with seven of their nine goals scored across those fixtures arriving in the second half of play. Franck Haise can still draw on his team’s rock-solid defense that has kept a clean sheet in two of four competitive trips in 2020, conceding over 1.5 goals once in the other two.