Freiburg vs Lens prediction 22.02.2024

• Competition: Europa League 1/16 Finals, 2nd leg
• Date: Thursday, 22nd February 2024
• Kickoff: 17:45 UTC / 18:45 CET
• Venue: Europa-Park Stadion (Freiburg)

Freiburg and Lens will compete in the second leg of the Europa League 1/16 at Europa-Park Stadion in Freiburg on Thursday evening. This follows a 0:0 draw in the first leg held in France.

Over the past few seasons, Freiburg has exhibited consistent progress. They secured the 5th position last season, missing the Champions League spot by just three points. However, their performance this season has not been up to par, as they are four points short of 6th place and a significant 12 points behind the Champions League spot. Recently, they’ve been experiencing difficulties, failing to secure a win in their last five matches across all competitions.

This season, Lens is coming off one of their best performances in a long time. They ended last season just one point behind the champions, PSG. Although the Blood and Gold had a rough start this season, they have improved as the season has advanced. Currently, they are in 6th place with 36 points, only three points away from the third position, which would qualify them directly for the UCL.

Freiburg vs Lens pick: Both teams to score

Freiburg’s form has been dismal recently, managing to secure just two points in their last five games across all competitions. Their defense has been particularly weak, conceding three goals in four out of those five matches. They managed to avoid conceding goals only against Lens, but even in that game, Lens had opportunities and even had a goal disallowed due to an offside ruling by VAR. So, we certainly lack confidence in their ability to maintain a clean sheet. Conversely, their offensive performance has been commendable at home, with them scoring at least once in 14 out of 15 games across all competitions.

Lens are performing well and have remained unbeaten in their last five games, managing to score at least one goal in four of those matches. Their defense has been strong recently, but their initial match against Freiburg was less than stellar. Freiburg attempted 17 goals and had 1.44 expected goals (xG) in that game, hence we were skeptical about Lens maintaining a clean sheet in Germany.

Taking into account all the factors mentioned above, we are of the opinion that both teams should be able to score in this Europa League match.