Lens vs Nantes Prediction: Strugglers to scrap it out

Back-to-back draws have all but ended RC Lens' Ligue 1 title charge, with Les Sang et Or six points behind Paris Saint-Germain with just three rounds of fixtures remaining. With Olympique Lyonnais now just four points in third, the focus will be on securing second place, and Pierre Sage's side should be hopeful of a win on Friday (19:45 BST, Ligue 1 Pass) when they face FC Nantes, who are on the cusp of relegation to Ligue 2.

Below are my Lens vs Nantes predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds, ahead of this Friday night fixture from the Stade Bollaert-Delelis.

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Team News

Regis Gurtner (muscle) and Jonathan Gradit (thigh) are among those out injured for Lens, while Saud Abdulhamid, Adrien Thomasson and Mamadou Sangare are all suspended.

Football Odds

Nantes head coach Vahid Halilhodzic may have to make at least one change to the starting XI that lined up for last Saturday's 3-0 victory over Olympique Marseille, with Deiver Machado withdrawn in the 26th minute of that game with a knock.

Anthony Lopes (finger), Fabien Centonze (knee), Kevin Amian (unspecified) and Tylel Tati (thigh) could all miss out, too.

Lens vs Nantes Odds

Lens are 4/11 favourites, implying a 73.3% probability of success, with Nantes 7/1, or a 12.5% chance, and the draw offered at 4/1.

Player to Have 2 or More Shots on Target - Matthis Abline (NAN) @ 10/3

Only Angers (27) have scored fewer goals in Ligue 1 this season than Nantes (29), and only Matthis Abline (six) has found the net more than four times for Les Canaris.

The 23-year-old rounded off the scoring in his side's 3-0 victory over Marseille last weekend, also seeing a shot saved in that game.

Today's Football Fixtures

Abline hit the target with one of his two shots the weekend prior in a 2-1 defeat at Stade Rennais on April 26, and four days before that, he registered two shots on target in a 3-0 loss at PSG.

Lens have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last seven games, and with Nantes still scrapping for survival, Abline is sure to take aim a few times on Friday, and his recent accuracy suggests he can direct a couple of his efforts on target.

Handicap +2 - Nantes +2 @ 4/5

Nantes have lost five of their last nine games, but four of those defeats were by a one-goal margin, with the outlier a 3-0 reverse away to reigning Ligue 1 and European champions PSG.

Lens, meanwhile, have drawn their last two games, and their last league win was a 3-2 victory over 10-man Toulouse.

The last four head-to-heads have been tight, with Lens winning three of them, including December's reverse fixture (1-2), by a one-goal margin, with Nantes winning last season's corresponding game 3-1 in February 2025.