PARIS (AP) — Lens is wishing for a big performance from club-record signing Elye Wahi against Ligue 1 title rival Paris Saint-Germain.
The problem is he plays for another team.
Still, Lens fans hope Wahi can help struggling Nice beat PSG on Saturday and do Lens a favor in the title race. Leader PSG is one point ahead of Lens with played one game less.
The signs are 23-year-old Wahi is finding the form that once made him among Europe’s most promising young strikers and led to transfer fees totalling nearly 90 million euros ($104 million).
Last weekend, he scored with a brilliant turn and lob from 40 meters for 15th-placed Nice against Angers, showing he’s got his instinct and confidence back.
Three years ago, Wahi joined Lens from Montpellier for 35 million euros after scoring 19 league goals and turning down a move to Premier League side Chelsea. Although he was the player of the match against Arsenal in the Champions League, his form faded.
Lens sold him to Marseille for 25 million euros the following season. He didn’t fit in at Marseille and — just 13 league games later — Wahi joined Eintracht Frankfurt on a five-and-a-half-year contract. The German club paid 26 million euros for Wahi, getting one goal in 25 games in return.
Eintracht loaned him to Nice in January and so far he has four goals and an assist in seven games.
Key matchups
Lens needs a morale-boosting home win against Angers on Friday. Having a smaller squad than PSG caused key players to look jaded in last weekend’s 2-1 loss at Lorient.
According to Opta statistics, Lens crossed the ball 58 times in the match — a record in European soccer this season — and did not score from one of them.
Marseille is not playing well but still holds the cards in its bid to qualify automatically for next season’s Champions League. Marseille is third under recently appointed coach Habib Beye heading into Sunday’s home game with fifth-placed Lille.
But Marseille’s fans are still raging about another trophyless season and the club’s ultras did not encourage the players during the first half of last week’s 1-0 win against Auxerre.
Monaco’s resurgence, meanwhile, is bad news for Lyon ahead of their clash in Lyon on Sunday. While sixth-placed Monaco seeks a sixth straight league win, fourth-placed Lyon is winless in four games in Ligue 1 and six straight overall.
A Monaco victory would move it one point behind Lyon in the race for Champions League spots, so Lyon hopes 19-year-old Brazil forward Endrick can recapture his form after a lean spell.
Players to watch
Nathan Mbala, Metz. The 18-year-old striker is the latest player to come through Metz’s respected youth academy and has scored twice so far for rock-bottom Metz, which is at Rennes on Sunday.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, PSG. The star winger is peaking at the right time. After being surprisingly dropped by coach Luis Enrique, he responded with three goals in two games against Chelsea in the Champions League.
Out of action
Just after signing his first professional contract, 18-year-old Lyon forward Rémi Himbert sprained an ankle in the Europa League and faces six weeks out. He joins Lyon’s long injury list.
PSG forward Bradley Barcola is out for several weeks after spraining his right ankle midweek against Chelsea.
Off the field
The match between Marseille and Lille, initially scheduled for Sunday evening, will instead kick off in the afternoon due to security concerns linked to the municipal elections in France. The far-right candidate is tied with the incumbent socialist mayor ahead of Sunday’s second round and authorities fear that the result, expected in the evening, could spark tensions in the southern port city. Lille president Olivier Létang, however, remains concerned about security and would have preferred the match to be postponed to a later date.
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AP Sports Writer Samuel Petrequin contributed to this report.
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