A win in Lens – Metz would let RC Lens move within one point of PSG, changing the immediate title-race picture for the Sang et Or. 3: 00 p. m. ET — Pierre Sage declined to rotate and fielded the same starting eleven used in the Coupe de France shootout at Lyon, 64 hours after that match.
Pierre Sage’s unchanged eleven makes the Metz game a direct shot at PSG
By keeping the identical lineup that beat Lyon on penalties, Pierre Sage has put Sunday’s fixture squarely into the title conversation: a victory would place RC Lens one point behind PSG. That single-point swing is the concrete prize on offer for the Sang et Or in this round of fixtures.
Ruben Aguilar and six others are absent, narrowing Pierre Sage’s options
Lens enters the match hampered by seven injuries, with Ruben Aguilar, Kyllian Antonio, Samson Baidoo, Jonathan Gradit, Régis Gurtner, Wesley Saïd and Allan Saint-Maximin listed in the club’s infirmary. The size of that injury list forces Pierre Sage to rely on the exact group that finished the Lyon shootout rather than freshening the side.
Rayan Fofana’s form and panenka give Pierre Sage an attacking alternative
Twenty-year-old Rayan Fofana remains a clear option up front: he has six goals this season, five in Ligue 1 and one in the Coupe de France, and his audacious panenka to start Lens’s penalty sequence at Lyon underlined his composure. Pierre Sage has identified Fofana as the first-choice forward to replace Odsonne Edouard if he opts to rest the veteran striker.
Still, Pierre Sage’s refusal to rotate the side — deploying the same eleven 64 hours after the Lyon shootout — signals that the manager is prioritizing continuity in the short term over individual rest, even with a thin squad list.
The next confirmed event is Lens’s home match against Metz on Sunday at 3: 00 p. m. ET. If one or more of the seven injured players are fit in time for kickoff, Lens’s depth will improve by the start of the match and could accelerate their ability to sustain a title challenge.
