Lens – Toulouse

Lens are justifiably favourites for tonight’s match

In the 13th round of the French championship, Lens will play Toulouse at home. "The blood-and-golds have slowed down a bit after a brilliant winless start to the season, but they are still in the lead. They share second place with Lorient - both teams have 27 points - and are three points ahead of Rennes. The more usual favourites have fallen further behind, with PSG playing in their own league and five points clear of the chasers. After Lens' 0-1 loss to Lille, the mischievous, flamboyant side might have seemed to have faded, but then Lens beat Montpellier 1-0 and Marseille 1-0, with an away win over the Provencals. Lens may appear to be playing close and defensively, but this is a misleading impression from the scoreline in recent matches. "The Bloody Golden have been a little less fortunate in terms of chances than at the beginning of the season. But they still attack a lot, threaten opponents' goals and look powerful enough. The same cannot be said for unstable Toulouse, who since their return to Ligue 1 have been playing attacking football, but often without looking back at their own goal, for which they have sometimes paid the price. In the last round, Toulouse held a confident 2-0 lead over Strasbourg, but narrowly missed out on a 2-2 victory. Previously, in a similar match, they snatched three points from Angers (3-2), and earlier they drew with Lyon (1-1). All games involving Toulouse are interesting, dramatic and rich in goal-scoring chances. Meanwhile, Toulouse sit tenth in the standings and share potential European Cup runners-up and mediocre sides with the underdogs. Interestingly, Lens and Toulouse last met in the 2014/15 season. Back then, the blood-and-gold side won both games. They are still favourites, but it seems more interesting to bet on the scoreline.