Preview: Lens vs Auxerre - prediction, team news, lineups

RC Lens welcome AJ Auxerre to the Stade Bollaert-Delelis on Saturday afternoon for the opening weekend of the 2026-27 Ligue 1 season.

In their previous outing, Les Sang et Or claimed a 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain to lift the French Super Cup, while Les Bleus et Blancs rounded off their pre-season fixtures by beating Werder Bremen in north-Germany.

Match preview

Gearing up for their seventh consecutive year in Ligue 1, Lens will be hoping that their historic French Super Cup triumph on Sunday evening can catapult them into title contention during the 2026-27 campaign.

As a result of their 3-1 Coupe de France final triumph against OGC Nice in May, Les Sang et Or faced Paris Saint-Germain for the chance to win this season’s first piece of silverware and after Florian Thauvin struck the back of the next in the first half, Dino Toppmoller’s men held firm to secure their second trophy in quick succession.

Lens’ maiden Trophee des Champions victory followed some promising pre-season performances too, convincingly beating Premier League sides Sunderland and Crystal Palace before posting a 3-1 win against Villarreal in the final of the second-ever Como Cup tournament.

Experiencing a highly successful calendar year so far, the next step for Lens is certainly challenging for the Ligue 1 title more frequently, having finished runners-up to PSG twice since their promotion and most recently trailing Les Parisiens by six points last season.

Having done the league double over Saturday’s opponents last season, claiming a 1-0 home victory after a 2-1 win at the Stade de l’Abbe-Deschamps in October, Toppmoller’s side will certainly be confident of continuing their good record against Auxerre and putting three points on the board on the campaign’s opening weekend.

Following an impressive return to France’s top-flight in the 2024-25 campaign, finishing 11th with 42 points and well clear of relegation, Auxerre will be relieved with how last season ended up panning out as they avoided the drop zone by the skin of their teeth.

Spending a huge 210 days in the division’s bottom three, it looked certain that L’AJA were going to drop back down to Ligue 2, however wins against relegation rivals Nice and Champions league chasing LOSC Lille in their final two matches secured their status for at least another season.

Having endured a largely positive pre-season schedule, losing just one of their five preparation fixtures, Will Still’s side will undoubtedly be wanting a more comfortable league campaign this time around, starting with a tough test against a strong Lens outfit.

Although they are huge underdogs to take anything from this weekend’s bout, Auxerre do have recent happy memories when travelling to northern-France and picked up their most recent win at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis in April 2025 when they posted a convincing 4-0 scoreline.

Lens pre-season form:

Auxerre pre-season form:

Team News

Picking up a straight red card against PSG, 18-year-old defender Kyllian Antonio is serving a ban this weekend, although Lens do welcome Thorgan Hazard back from suspension.

The hosts continue to be without defensive duo Jhoanner Chavez and Jonathan Gradit as both continue their recovery from long-term thigh injuries, while Nidal Celik is nearing a return from a meniscus issue.

Missing the majority of pre-season with a thigh problem, 22-year-old Austrian Samson Baido also remains out alongside Odsonne Edouard, who suffered a groin strain against Sunderland a fortnight ago.

Auxerre will be unable to utilise either Bryan Okoh or Assane Diousse on Saturday afternoon, the latter of whom has been ruled out for the majority of the campaign after sustaining a torn ACL against Werder Bremen on Saturday.

Picking up a groin injury following his signing from Swiss side Lausanne, Les Bleus et Blancs are yet to see 23-year-old defender Sekou Fofana in action, while Marvin Senata continues to be out with a hamstring issue picked up at the World Cup with Ghana.

Lens possible starting lineup:

Risser; Aguilar, Ganiou, Nawrocki; Abdulhamid, Bulatovic, Titraoui, Udol; Thauvin, Sima, Ivanovic

Auxerre possible starting lineup:

Diop; Sy, Diomande, Akpa, Oppegard; Piedfort, Danois, Ahamada; Casimir, Zossou, Namaso

We say: Lens 3-1 Auxerre

Entering the season in fine form, Lens will be confident of getting their Ligue 1 campaign underway with victory at the Stade de l’Abbe-Deschamps on Saturday afternoon.

Although Auxerre have enjoyed a positive pre-season and recently claimed victory on their travels to Les Sang et Or, we think it is difficult to see them getting a result on the opening weekend.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.