Franck Haise’s team lost four of their first five matches in Ligue 1 this season but they are now racing up the table
By Eric Devin for Get French Football News
Lens were the darlings of French football last season. The northern club, who have a storied history – including a league title in 1998 – have played a scintillating brand of football under Franck Haise since their promotion to the top flight in 2020. They raised their game even further last season, losing just four matches and pushing eventual champions PSG all the way, missing out on the title by a single point.
Led by the impressive goalkeeper Brice Samba and the best defence in the league, their counterattacking brio was a thing of beauty. Their defence – Jonathan Gradit, Facundo Medina and Kevin Danso – was retained in the summer despite heavy interest in Danso, but they did lose a few key players, including the all-action midfielder Séko Fofana and the striker Loïs Openda, who scored 21 goals after arriving from Belgium.
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