Lens vs Como
Lens vs Como Preview
There’s a real sense of desperation creeping into Lens’s Champions League campaign, and Wednesday night at Stade Bollaert-Delelis feels like a genuine crossroads. Three points from three games has left them outside the top 24, staring down the barrel of an early exit from Europe’s elite competition. Their opponents, Como, arrive in northern France having turned heads across the continent with a brand of football that genuinely excites, and they’ve already got six points on the board. A win for Cahuzac’s side closes the gap and keeps their knockout hopes alive. A defeat, and the road back gets very steep indeed.
The context around this Lens side matters. They came back to European football after finishing second in Ligue 1 last season, which was a real achievement. But the campaign hasn’t gone to plan. Dino Toppmoller was moved on quickly, Yannick Cahuzac stepped in and got off to a decent start domestically with three consecutive league wins, then took a punch to the gut on Friday when a late Olivier Giroud goal handed Lille victory in the Derby du Nord. Ninth in Ligue 1, out of sorts in Europe, and now facing one of the most exciting attacking sides in the entire Champions League this term. The pressure on Cahuzac is real and it’s building fast.
Como’s story, on the other hand, is one of the great modern football tales. A club that were in Serie D as recently as 2019, now sitting fourth in Serie A and collecting results in the Champions League that established clubs would envy. Cesc Fabregas has them playing with genuine belief, and last month’s 4-1 demolition of Manchester United at Stadio Sinigaglia wasn’t just a fluke scoreline against a struggling side. It was a performance full of clinical finishing, intelligent movement, and the kind of confidence that only comes when a squad genuinely believes in what their manager is building. They come to Bollaert-Delelis in fine nick, and Lens simply have to find a way to stop them.
Lens vs Como Form
Lens’s form in the Champions League makes for grim reading. That opening 3-2 comeback win over Slavia Prague was a promising start, full of drama and character, but it’s been downhill since. A 2-0 home defeat to Sporting Lisbon suggested defensive frailties that go beyond individual errors, and then a 3-0 thrashing away at Club Brugge confirmed them. What’s particularly alarming is the statistic that 28 years and 16 Champions League games have now passed without a clean sheet. That’s not a blip, that’s a structural problem, and it’s going to take more than a change of manager to fix it mid-campaign.
Domestically, Cahuzac steadied the ship when he first came in, but that Derby du Nord defeat is a blow that goes beyond the three points. Losing to Lille hurts in a way that’s cultural, not just tactical, and the timing of it, right before this Champions League fixture, is far from ideal. The mood around the club can’t be great right now, and facing Como when they’re flying is about as tough a way to bounce back as you can imagine.
Como, by contrast, are absolutely purring. Five straight wins across all competitions since their 3-2 defeat to Feyenoord on matchday two, with 13 goals scored and just three conceded during that run. Sunday’s 1-0 win over Venezia in Serie A, settled by Lucas Da Cunha from the spot, kept the momentum ticking along nicely. Twenty-three points from their opening 10 Serie A games is a club record, and they’re right in the mix at the top of the table. Ten Champions League goals from their first three games is also the best return of any debutant in UEFA’s top competition since 1973, and crucially every single one of those strikes has come from open play. This is a team that creates and converts, without relying on set pieces or individual moments of genius to bail them out.
Lens vs Como Head to Head
These two clubs have never met before, which makes this a genuinely fresh fixture with no historical baggage to factor in. There’s no venue record to lean on, no previous result to use as a reference point, and no familiar patterns from past encounters. In some ways that makes the job of prediction harder, but it also means the form guide and current condition of both sides carries more weight than it normally would.
What we can say is that the balance of momentum sits firmly with the visitors. Como have shown they can handle the big occasion, as that Manchester United result proved. Lens, for all their home support at Bollaert-Delelis, have not exactly been a fortress in Europe this season, and with the defensive problems they’ve been carrying, conceding to a Como side this sharp feels more like a certainty than a possibility.
Lens vs Como Lineups
Lens are stretched at both ends of the pitch going into this one. In attack, Odsonne Edouard has had surgery on an adductor injury and could be out until 2027, which is a significant blow. Abdallah Sima is also missing, and that means Franjo Ivanovic is expected to carry the attacking burden as the focal point up front. Defensively, Ismaelo Ganiou and Maik Nawrocki are both unavailable, and wing-back Jhoanner Chavez is struggling with a hamstring problem and rated as a doubt. That’s a lot of holes to fill, and it puts extra pressure on the players who are fit. Florian Thauvin remains their most creative presence, having created 15 chances across the Champions League’s first three matchdays, which is the highest figure of any player in the competition, but creativity alone won’t be enough if the side can’t keep Como out at the other end.
Como are also dealing with their own injury concerns, with Moise Kean, Trevoh Chalobah, Jesus Rodriguez, and Assane Diao all ruled out, and Jayden Addai a major doubt. But Fabregas still has Nico Paz and Tasos Douvikas available, and those two are the heartbeat of everything Como do in the final third. Paz has been directly involved in five Champions League goals and Douvikas has scored in every single one of Como’s league-phase appearances. Jean Butez is expected to start in goal, and the backline should be relatively settled despite the absences further forward. The key players are fit, and for Como, that’s really all that matters.
Lens vs Como Tactics
Cahuzac likes his Lens side to press with energy and play on the front foot, but the problem is that the squad he’s working with has looked vulnerable in behind, particularly against teams that move quickly through the lines. Their back four has been repeatedly exposed in Europe, and without Nawrocki and Ganiou providing cover, the defensive shape is even more makeshift than usual. Lens will almost certainly need to control the ball and limit Como’s transition opportunities, which is easier said than done against a side that presses hard themselves and wins the ball back so effectively in the middle third.
Fabregas has Como operating with a fluid, positionally intelligent system that makes them difficult to pin down. They press high, they shift the ball quickly, and the movement of Paz and Douvikas in and around the box consistently pulls defences apart. The pattern in the Champions League has been particularly notable: Como have scored first in all three of their European games, and each of those early goals has come in the first half. If they get an early lead here, the task for Lens becomes even more daunting. Lens need a fast start and a solid defensive display. Based on the evidence of this campaign, getting both at the same time looks very difficult.
Lens vs Como Prediction and Betting Tips
Como are the better team right now, they’re in superior form, and they’re facing a Lens side that’s short on numbers, low on confidence, and carrying a Champions League defensive record that would embarrass most clubs at this level. The Italian side have been clinical in front of goal throughout this European campaign, and there’s nothing in the Lens setup that suggests they’re suddenly going to become hard to break down. Fabregas will send his side out to get on top early, and with Paz and Douvikas both sharp and available, the chances will come.
The tip here is Como to win, and given their attacking output and Lens’s defensive fragility, backing them with goals makes even more sense. Como win and both teams to score feels tempting given Lens’s tendency to at least create something going forward through Thauvin, but the safer play is Match Result and Over 2.5 Goals with a Como win, reflecting both their quality and the open nature of a game where Lens desperately need to attack. Como have the tools to hurt this Lens back line repeatedly, and three or more goals in the game feels highly probable.