Focus on Racing Club de Lens
Six years later, Racing Club de Lens is back in Monaco Before the start of the match this Wednesday at the Stade Louis-II (9 pm behind closed doors), Lens are in 9th place in the Ligue 1 standings. It’s and honorable place which makes RCL the best-positioned promoted side since the resumption of Ligue 1.
Two straight away wins for RCL
Recently neither Dijon (0-1),nor Rennes (0-2) managed to win at home against the Sang et Or. You have to go back to October 18 to find Lens losing away from home where Lille soundly defeated the promoted side (4-0). In all, Yannick Cahuzac and his team have won 10 points out of 18 possible outside the Stade Félix-Bollaert (3 wins, 1 draw, 2 losses), making them the 8thbest Ligue 1 team away from home.
A new look Racing Club de Lens
The summer transfer window allowed the Northerne side to reshape their starting lineup. It seems to be paying off since the start of the league season, given the current results. Between their last Ligue 2 meeting last March, against Orléans (1-0 victory) and a visit from Montpellier last Saturday, only Jean-Louis Leca, Steven Fortes and Florian Sotoca kept their starting place in the starting lineup. Youngsters Ignatius Ganago and Arnaud Kalimuendo have impressed their arrival this summer. With five goals for the former Nice man and three for the former PSG academy play, it’s been a rapid integration.
Supported by the experienced Gaël Kakuta, among the three of them they have scored 66% of Lens’ goals. The latter is also the club’s top scorer and assist leader in Ligue 1 this season with six goals and three assists. The attacking line can now count on the support of Seko Fofana and his passing quality. The box-to-box midfielder arrived from Udinese and is beginning to string together matches. After missing two months of competition due to a hamstring injury, the Ivorian midfielder is a key element of the Sang et Or midfield. He also recorded his first assist against Rennes on December 5th.
Franck #Haise a sélectionné un groupe de 20 joueurs pour le déplacement de demain à @AS_Monaco
Les absents ▶️ https://t.co/C4Y8mpVIS7#ASMRCL #GuidésParNotreFierté #rclens pic.twitter.com/QccFogQhPm
— Racing Club de Lens (@RCLens) December 15, 2020
AS Monaco pre-match press conference extracts
Read Niko Kovac‘s pre-match press conference.
Read Vito Mannone‘s pre-match press conference.
Suivez la conférence de presse, en direct vidéo, de Franck #Haise et @Clem_Michelin avant @AS_Monaco – Lens ▶️ https://t.co/Uqfx3REFP3#ASMRCL #rclens
— Racing Club de Lens (@RCLens) December 14, 2020
AS Monaco – RC Lens by the numbers…
- 98: The number of matches in Ligue 1, totaling 45 wins for AS Monaco, 28 draws and 25 losses (152 goals scored, 96 conceded).
- 49: Total matches at the Stade Louis-II, with a record of 34 wins for AS Monaco, 10 draws and 5 losses (102 goals scored, 29 conceded).
- 13: Over Lens’ last 13 visits in Ligue 1, the Monegasques have never lost (8 wins, 5 draws) – keeping a clean sheet 11 times in this run.
- 10: AS Monaco are unbeaten in their last 10 home matches in Ligue 1 (7 wins 3 draws), equal to Lyon and Lille. This is their best streak at home since December 2017-August 2018. (13).
- 6-0: On March 20, 1955 and April 29, 1995, the Rouge et Blancs scored their biggest home victory against Lens. Mario Nocentini, Julien Stopyra (double) then Stéphane Bruey (hat trick) took part in this offensive display. A little more than 40 years later, Dan Petersen, Thierry Henry (double) and Youri Djorkaeff (hat trick) did the same.
- 2-0: We must go back to December 2, 2014 to find the last match between the players of the Rock and the Sang et Or at the Stade Louis-II. The game ended with a 2-0 victory for the hosts, with Dimitar Berbatov and Yannick Ferreira Carrasco scoring in the game.
