Happy New Year with a French top clash

The New Year gets off to a good start in France when the runner-up takes on the leader. Lens won the last 8 home games, PSG have won the last 8 competitive games and have not lost under Galtier. This means that in this derby one of those two series will stop! 

Hunter against the hunted is the duel between Lens and Paris Saint-Germain. The hosts from Northern France are currently second in Ligue 1, but are already 8 points behind with one game in hand . With a home win and after losing points, however, Racing would come within 2 points of PSG. On the other hand, the Parisians could extend the lead over the first pursuer to up to 11 points.

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Lens analysis

Racing Club de Lens is heading for the best placement in the club's history. In the first 15 championship games, Franck Haise's team has won 11 games, drawn 3 games and lost only 1 game. The championship title seems utopian given the superiority of PSG, so most bookmakers give some extremely high odds such as 31. However, the runner-up title throws off an appealing 2.05 odds. You can allude to these odds, especially since the home team in the Lens vs. PSG prediction is not a blatant underdog.

The Red Golds have won the last 5 league games, including against Marseille. However, it is difficult to imagine that Lens can also win against PSG. The northern French won the first 8 home appearances in Ligue 1 all! Therefore, a winning streak must break in any case. Racing are unbeaten in 13 home games, their last home defeat in the league was against Stade Brest in March. It will be anything but easy for PSG to win in Lens according to our forecast.

Lens have conceded just 1 goal in their last 5 home appearances. In 8 home games this season, RC have scored 18 goals and conceded only 5. In return, Lens has scored in all 8 home games, while in the last two games in front of their own fans they scored twice. 

The Haise team scored at least twice in 7 games of the season, only in 3 matches did they not score. On the other hand, they have conceded less than 1.5 goals in the past 10 league games and kept a clean sheet in 6 games. According to our forecast, it will not be easy for the decimated PSG offensive to get through this defensive wall. Maybe that's why we won't see too many goals in this game.

The northern French scored the first goal in 7 of their 8 home games, but only went into halftime 3 times with a lead. But Lens won the second round in 4 of the last 5 league games. In 8 games of the season, Racing Club won by one goal , only in 3 games the difference was higher. Only in every 2nd game in Lens do both teams score, but in 2 thirds more than 2.5 goals are scored there. In 3 quarters of home games there are more than 8.5 corners, but just as often there are less than 9.5.

Paris Saint-Germain analysis

Paris Saint-Germain are marching towards the French championship title again this season. In the past 10 years, PSG has only given up the title twice. Under coach Christophe Galtier things went extremely well in the autumn. In 23 competitive games they have not had to bow down to an opponent, and they have won 19 games with 4 draws. In the league they are at the top with 14 wins and 2 draws. Many bookies no longer give betting odds for PSG's championship title.

A few superlative numbers for the Lens vs. PSG tip: The club from the capital has remained undefeated in the past 25 league games and in the last 12 away games. The last away defeat in the Ligue 1 betting tips was in Nice in March. This season , the Parisians have won 7 games and drawn only 1 away from home. In 8 guest appearances, the Galtier team only allowed 2 goals out of 24 goals scored. On average they score 3.0 goals away from home. Scored twice in the last 5 league games.

Under Galtier, PSG have won their last 8 competitive games and the last 3 away games in all competitions. In the last 7 competitive games, the Red Blues have scored a total of 25 goals, but have only conceded once in the last 7 games. In 3 quarters of the away games there are more than 2.5 goals, in one quarter even more than 4.5 goals. The Parisians only concede 80% of the goals after the break. In 13 games of the season, they opened the score which means that Paris Saint-Germain also went into the half with a lead in 13 games.

When asked if Messi will play against Lens, the PSG coach said: "We don't expect Lionel Messi back until January 2nd or 3rd.At the moment he can still celebrate his World Cup title in Argentina.” It is therefore clear that Messi will not play against Lens. The 1st game that the captain of the Argentine world cup team could make for PSG is the home game against Angers on January 11, 2023.

Kylian Mbappé was the top scorer with 8 goals at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but was beaten in the final by Lionel Messi's Argentina. The now 24-year-old worked through the lost World Cup final with the winning goal to make it 2-1 for PSG against Strasbourg in injury time . It was Mbappé's 13th goal of the season in the league, 20th in 21 games for PSG.

He has now scored 148 goals in 198 Ligue 1 games and another 63 hits. According to our forecast, Mbappé will also score against Lens, but the Frenchman will have to do without his strike partners Messi and Neymar. The 24-year-old is closely guarded by Racing, but Mbappé will not let the game take 90 minutes.

Lens - PSG: What to expect? 

Lens has only won 1 of the last 10 direct duels. PSG won 5 times while 4 ended in a draw. However, the northern French have remained undefeated in the last 3 meetings, with the last two clashes each ending in a draw. Lens also scored in the last two home duels (1 S, 1 U).

PSG has not been able to win in Lens for 8 years, but Racing has only been able to win once in the past 10 home duels. In 6 of the last 8 direct comparisons, both teams were able to score, most recently 3 times in a row. Lens scored in the last 3 home duels, so we tend towards goals on both sides in the Lens vs. PSG prediction.

In the coaching duel, Galtier leads 3-1 against Haise . The PSG coach only has a balanced record of 5 wins and 5 defeats with 1 draw against Lens. In Haise, too, the comparison with PSG is balanced with 1 win and 1 loss each with 2 draws.

After our detailed analysis, we make a recommendation for the Both Teams to Score – Yes betting market. This allows you to take the betting odds for Over 2.5 goals for your betting slip, but with a no-deposit betting bonus you can also risk at Over 3.5 goals. PSG won't lose this game, but we protect ourselves with the double chance X2.

• Both Teams to Score at odds of 1.65
• Paris Saint-Germain X2 double chance at odds of 1.36
• Over 3.5 at odds of 2.8

* All odds and markets are correct at time of publication and subject to change.