Slavia are strong at home, but Lens can respond: Slavia Prague vs Lens prediction
The opening-round Champions League match between Slavia Prague and Lens will take place on 10 September at the Fortuna Arena. The Czech side head into their European opener unbeaten this season, while the French club have suffered two consecutive defeats after a bright start to the campaign.
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Slavia Prague: confident start and prolific attack
Jindřich Trpišovský's side have collected 17 points from their opening seven Czech league matches, recording five wins and two draws. In their latest game, Slavia thrashed Brno 4-0, while they have conceded only five goals in domestic competition.
However, the Prague club are now without a win in 19 consecutive Champions League matches. At home, though, Slavia are capable of causing serious problems, especially as they have won four of their last six meetings with French teams.
Lens: downturn after a bright start to the season
Lens began the league campaign with a 5-2 victory over Auxerre, but then lost 2-1 to Strasbourg and 1-0 to Lorient. Dino Toppmöller's side have yet to show the consistency that helped them finish second in Ligue 1 last season.
The French side also have problems away from home in European competition. Lens are without a win in their last 13 away matches in major European tournaments, although they rarely leave a Champions League match without scoring.
Match facts and head-to-head record
- Slavia are unbeaten in their opening seven Czech league matches.
- Slavia Prague have avoided defeat in normal time in six of their last eight home Champions League matches.
- No more than three goals have been scored in normal time in 13 of Slavia's last 17 home Champions League matches.
- Lens are without a win in their last 13 away matches in major European competitions.
- The teams' only previous meeting came in the 1995/96 season, when Slavia progressed 1-0 on aggregate.
The teams are capable of producing a high-scoring match: Slavia Prague vs Lens prediction
Slavia have looked very confident in attack and should play more boldly at home than in many of their previous Champions League matches. At the same time, the visitors' defence has already shown weaknesses in recent league rounds.
Lens have enough attacking quality to exploit the spaces and respond with goals of their own. The teams look fairly evenly matched, so a high-scoring draw appears to be the most logical outcome.
