With their fate in their own hands heading into the final matchday in Ligue 1, Auxerre host second-placed Lens at the Stade de l'Abbe Deschamps knowing that a win will guarantee them a spot in the top flight for 2023-24.
Christophe Pelissier's side gleaned a potentially priceless point in their basement battle in a 1-1 draw with Toulouse last weekend, while Les Sang et Or's title dreams were dashed despite a convincing 3-0 win over Ajaccio.
Match preview
© Reuters
Facing a Toulouse side who just could not buy a goal at the Stadium Municipal last weekend, Auxerre were ostensibly set to prolong the Coupe de France winners' misery in front of their own fans when Rayan Raveloson curled in a delightful effort from the edge of the area with 25 minutes gone.
However, on the stroke of half time, Zakaria Aboukhlal ensured that Toulouse's scoreless streak would not stretch to five games with a bullet header to deny Auxerre three points that would have guaranteed their survival, but with Nantes falling short against Lille, Pelissier's side remain in control of their top-flight destiny.
Languishing in 16th spot with 35 points to their name, Auxerre are two points above Nantes and simply need to better Les Canaris' result against Angers to retain their Ligue 1 status, but Pelissier's side cannot leave anything to chance with an inferior goal difference to Nantes (-26 compared to -19).
With Angers already consigned to the drop alongside Troyes and Ajaccio, Nantes will be firm favourites to get the job done at home against the league's basement side, which only increases Auxerre's need for a first win in six matches since they coincidentally overcame Les Canaris 2-1 on April 16.
Pelissier's men have somewhat succeeded in fortifying the walls of the Stade de l'Abbe Deschamps - losing just one of their last seven at home, and even then Paris Saint-Germain only just scraped a 2-1 win - and Lens did not have their form on the road to thank for their recently-extinguished title charge.
© Reuters
Praying for Strasbourg to do them a favour against PSG in order to take the race for the championship down to the final day, Lens stuck to the task at hand against Ajaccio, putting three past their already-relegated visitors without reply through Deiver Machado, Adrien Thomasson and Lois Openda in the first half.
However, PSG only required one point from their final two fixtures to keep Lens at bay and retain their title, and a 1-1 draw at Thomasson's former club Strasbourg ended an intriguing fight for glory in Ligue 1, ensuring that Lens would end another remarkable period of progression in second place.
Despite falling short in their race for Ligue 1 stardom - which is nothing to be ashamed of against the financial juggernaut that is PSG - Les Sang et Or will host Champions League matches in front of their boisterous Stade Bollaert-Delelis atmosphere next season for the first time in 21 years, finishing above the likes of Marseille, Rennes, Lyon and Lille thanks to a six-game winning run in the top flight.
Four of the visitors' last five away games have also ended in victory, but a spate of draws on rival turf - eight to be exact - have proven costly in the title race, and Haise's team will hardly enjoy a blissful cruise to the finish line against an Auxerre crop with plenty left to fight for.
A single strike from Przemyslaw Frankowski propelled Lens to a 1-0 win over Auxerre earlier this season, which stretched Les Sang et Or's unbeaten run over AJA to five games - failure to snap that streak may or may not spell the end of Auxerre's time in the big time.
Team News
© Reuters
Despite the disappointment of failing to confirm their survival last weekend, Auxerre sustained no fresh injury concerns and should only be without Achilles victim Elisha Owusu for their final game of the season, but M'Baye Niang was also dropped from the squad against Toulouse after missing training for unexplained reasons.
While Pelissier's side will be assured of their safety with a win, a conservative 5-4-1 approach should be deployed from the first whistle, with Nuno Da Costa likely to lead the line in place of Niang.
Meanwhile, midfielder Birama Toure will wear the armband for the hosts for the 38th time this season - no other player in the division has captained their team in 100% of their games so far this season.
As for Lens, Haise should also be working with largely the same group of players from their success over Ajaccio last weekend, as Jimmy Cabot, Wuilker Farinez and Steven Fortes (all knee) watch on from the sidelines once more.
The match-winner in this fixture in January, Frankowski will return from a suspension this weekend and should take his rightful place out wide, in turn forcing Angelo Fulgini out of the team as Florian Sotoca returns to his favoured role in the final third.
With no possibility of moving higher up or lower down the table, Haise may be tempted to shuffle the pack with the likes of Jean Onana, Adam Buksa and Alexis Claude-Maurice, but a recognisable XI should take to the field from the off.
Auxerre possible starting lineup:
Radu; Zedadka, Jubal, I. Toure, Raveloson, Mensah; Hein, B. Toure, Massengo, Sinayoko; Da Costa
Lens possible starting lineup:
Samba; Medina, Danso, Gradit; Frankowski, Fofana, Abdul Samed, Machado; Sotoca, Thomasson; Openda
We say: Auxerre 1-1 Lens
With second place now assured and nothing significant left to fight for, it would only be natural for Lens to take their foot off the gas a tad, and any complacency should no doubt be capitalised on by an Auxerre side fighting for their lives.
Haise's side have often flattered to deceive on the road as well, and while we can envisage a fired-up Auxerre gleaning a point on the final day, such an outcome could still drop them below the dotted line depending on results in Brittany.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Ben Knapton
