Ah, the age-old squabble between Lille and Lens. The goalkeeper situation is pretty balanced, both with impressive stats and 11 saves each– Lens's Mathew Ryan with a 7.43 and Lille's Lucas Chevalier with a 7.23. Both likely to stop a couple of salsa dancing mid-fielders in their tracks.

Not something to be trivialized, Lens' top three performers include Neil El Aynaoui, Abdulay Juma Bah, and Florian Sotoca. El Aynaoui's pair of goals along with his sharpshooting abilities give Lens a slight edge.

However, Lille is no stranger to talent. Jonathan David, a gentleman with two goals to his name, and Rémy Cabella, who might as well be a GPS with his pinpoint accurately lead their squad.

Past encounter discloses that Lille has a tendency to get the better of Lens. With recent victories in 2024, they've established a bit of an upper hand. Trust me, nobody forgets those bruises easily.

To further pour salt on the wound, in regular season records, Lille (12-8-6) secures a slight advantage over Lens (11-6-9).

If we glance at recent results, Lens seems to be riding a rollercoaster – heart-stopping victories against Stade Rennais and Olympique de Marseille, followed by deflating losses to Le Havre, Nantes and Strasbourg. On the opposite end, Lille has been balancing victory and defeats, although the loss against Paris Saint-Germain still must sting.

Given the trends and stats, I reckon Lille should come out on top, not by an insurmountable margin, but a victory nonetheless.

Albert’s Prediction: Lille by 1