Lens vs Toulouse prediction 05.01.2025 | Ligue 1

• Competition: Ligue 1
• Date: Sunday, 5th January, 2025
• Kickoff: 14:00 UK / 15:00 CET
• Venue: Stade Bollaert-Delelis (Lens)

After being eliminated from the Coupe de France by PSG, Lens will welcome Toulouse in the 16th round of the Ligue 1.

Last year, Lens finished 7th and eventually failed to secure Europe. This season, "The Blood and Gold" are focused only on domestic competitions, but we are not really impressed by their performances so far. They are around the same level as the last season, as they are sitting in seventh place with 24 points in 15 rounds - 1.6 per game. That is only 0.1 points per game more than last season.

Toulouse had two interesting seasons behind them, winning the Cup and then playing in Europe. This season, they had a rough start and spent most of the time in the relegation zone. However, in the second part of the season, Toulouse did very well, climbing to 9th place, only three points away from Europe.

Lens vs Toulouse pick: Under 2.5 goals

Lately, Lens played mostly low-scoring games, as they were under 2.5 goals in three out of the last four matches. But that is hardly news because they are the best team in the league for this type of bet, with 79% of their league games finishing with fewer than three goals.

Toulouse have struggled away from home lately. They lost back-to-back games against Monaco and PSG while failing to score in both. But they failed to score away from home in the Cup (after those two losses), as they drew 0:0 in the regular time against Hauts Lyonnais, a lower-tier team. So, it is hard to expect they can score against the second-best defensive team in the league.

In the previous h2h game, Lens won 2:0. Moreover, eight out of the last ten h2h games finished with fewer than three goals. Considering the trend in the h2h games and all the above, an under 2.5 goals bet seems like the best option for this Ligue 1 tie.