Lorient vs Lens Preview

Lorient will welcome Lens to the Stade du Moustoir this Thursday as both sides face off in the ⅛ round of the Coupe de France.

Lorient qualified for this stage of the tournament courtesy of a penalty shootout win over Bastia in the last round.

But their form heading into this game has been dodgy with just three straight wins in nine games they have played since the restart (D3, L3).

Having flirted with the European spots in the league this season, they will be desperate to continue their decent run of form with a trophy. They won the Coupe de France in 2002 when they beat Bastia 1-0. That achievement remains their biggest honour in history so qualification to the next round will give them the belief they can repeat their 2002 achievement.

Meanwhile, Lens also come into this fixture poorly having not won in their last three games.

A 1-1 draw with Brest last weekend was the most recent of that series and took them eight points behind league leaders PSG in the Ligue 1 title race.

Having beaten Brest 3-1 to qualify for this stage of the Coupe de France, they face another Ligue 1 opponent in this round, looking to continue their impressive head-to-head record in this fixture.

Lens have won four of the last five head-to-heads with Lorient, beating the hosts 5-2 the last time both teams met in August. And so, they will fancy their chances of getting a win here.