Two teams who have had strong starts to their respective Ligue 1 campaigns will meet on Saturday as Lens competes against Rennes.

The hosts are currently second in the table, just two points off the league leaders while the visitors are undefeated in their previous two games.

Match preview

Lens have been one of the most impressive teams in the opening three matches of the Ligue 1 season, heading into this game without a defeat.

After a 3-2 victory against Brest to kickstart the season, the squad then showcased their defensive qualities when they picked up a point in a goalless draw against Ajaccio.

The clean sheet is something that Franck Haise will want his team to achieve once again, but the team were back to firing on all cylinders at the weekend just gone.

Lens scored four times against Monaco in a dominant 4-1 victory where the squad showcased all of the qualities that they have.

It is a result that they will want to replicate here, and a win on Saturday does have the potential to see the club finish the weekend as the league leaders.

Rennes opened their season with a close 1-0 defeat against Lorient, and that was followed up by a 1-1 draw against Monaco.

The squad continued building momentum with their most recent outing against Ajaccio where they picked up their first three points of the campaign.

Bruno Genesio witnessed his team put on an impressive performance with goals from Martin Terrier and Arthur Theate getting on the scoresheet for a 2-1 victory.

It was not a game without issues for Rennes though as they did finish the game with only nine men on the field as Romain Salin and Lesley Ugochukwu were both sent off.

A victory at the weekend would see them draw level on points with their opponents though, which would help them to climb up the table.

Team News

Lens have been missing a trio of players as of late, with Gael Kakuta, Adam Buksa and Wuilker Farinez all out of action so far.

Despite those problems, the hosts have shown that there is enough quality within the squad to get results, and after such a dominant display against Monaco, it could be an unchanged starting XI used here.

Salin and Ugochukwu are both going to be unavailable this weekend because of suspension, but neither man started in their most recent game, which might not lead to any changes to the starting lineup.

Warmed Omari is close to returning but this match will likely come too soon for him, while Birger Meling is also unavailable because of a thigh injury.

Lens possible starting lineup:
Samba; Gradit, Danso, Medina; Machado, Fofana, Samed, Frankowski; Costa, Sotoca; Openda

Rennes possible starting lineup:
Alemdar; Traore, Bade, Theate, Truffert; Terrier, Santamaria, Tait, Bourigeaud; Laborde, Kalimuendo

We say: Lens 3-1 Rennes

Rennes have been performing well in the opening three games, but Saturday is going to provide a difficult test for the squad against one of the strongest teams in the league so far.

Lens have been impressive with their attacking qualities while also showing defensive capabilities, and they will be the favourites here.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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