“Three games left”: Lens and Dijon face a fight for air
RC Lens and Dijon FCO meet on 3 May with both sides staring at the drop, but Lens have the points and home advantage.
“Three games left” is the blunt arithmetic for RC Lens and Dijon FCO. They meet on Saturday, 3 May, with Lens 16th on 34 points and Dijon 18th on 14; the bottom two go down, and Lens are in the likely relegation play-off place. Dijon are 20 points from safety. There is no room here for a gentle opening.
Lens have won nine of 31 league games, but their recent line reads defeat, win, defeat, draw, defeat. On Sunday, 27 April, Olympique de Marseille beat them 3-0. Dijon have won only twice all season, and arrive after losing 3-2 at home to Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday, 27 April. Their last five league results are a draw, defeat, draw, defeat, defeat: scraps of resistance, then another shove towards the edge.
The December meeting offers Lens a foothold. They won 2-1 at Dijon on 9 December, with Rahmat Hasbi and Martín Monreal scoring before Lucas Mathieu replied. The previous two meetings also went Lens’s way, both 3-2. But Yoshizumi Kanoshima, the best player in that December match, is injured, as is regular defensive midfielder Michele Mancini. Dijon will be without Zeus Tapia, while former Lens player Youssouf Niang is expected in their defence.
Lens are likely to keep their narrow 4-1-2-1-2; Dijon are expected in a 4-4-2. The visitors’ Everson Romano has been lively in recent games, and his duel with Lens left-back Gorka García could be decisive. Yet Lens must find more than containment: their expected shape has brought eight wins in 18 games, while their record against a 4-4-2 is one win in nine.
The numbers beneath the table tell a painful tale for both. Lens have 28 points from 27 games against 32.5 expected; Dijon have 12 from 21 against 22.4 expected. Dijon’s gap is harsher, but the table offers no comfort to either. With three matches left, this one carries the weight of a season.