The Champions League returned to the Stade Bollaert for the first time in twenty years.
Lens started the season poorly, managing just one point from their first five matches, but seem to be getting back into form, drawing in their group opener against Sevilla then beating Toulouse and Strasbourg. Franck Haise made three changes to the side that won against Strasbourg, with Adrien Thomasson, Salis Abdul Samed and Przemyslaw Frankowski replacing Angelo Fulgini, Andy Diouf and Ruben Aguilar. Lens continued in the 3-4-3 formation they nearly won Ligue 1 with last year.
Fresh from thrashing Bournemouth, Mikel Arteta made two changes to his starting eleven, with Takehiro Tomiyasu and Leandro Trossard replacing Ben White and Eddie Nketiah. Arsenal now utilise an out-and-out 4-3-3 shape rather than the 4-2-3-1 they found success with last season.
The match started with the ball bouncing back and forth as both teams pressed but before too long it was Arsenal that took control. With Oleksandr Zinchenko tucking into midfield and Martin Odegaard sometimes dropping back, while Gabriel Magalhães and Tomiyasu spread wide in defence, Lens couldn’t effectively cover both the central and wide areas when pressing, and so instead dropped back. This allowed Arsenal to push Lens right back to their box.
Nevertheless, despite camping out in the final third, Arsenal were struggling to break down Lens’ solid defensive shape. There was a lot of the same kind of sterile possession we saw from them last season, passing from side to side in dangerous areas without actually creating chances.
Fortunately for The Gunners, Thomasson created a chance for them, giving the ball away sloppily on the edge of his area. Bukayo Saka intercepted his weak pass and fed it to Gabriel Jesus, who took advantage of Kevin Danso needing to regain his balance, creating a little space for himself and firing the ball inside the post.
Although Arsenal were managing to push Lens back towards their own goal, les Sang et Or were still very much in the game. Arsenal would press through the middle, their front three picking up Lens’ back three and Kai Havertz and Odegaard picking up Nampalys Mendy and Abdul Samed.
This approach would leave Lens’ wing-backs free though, and Brice Samba is more than good enough with his feet to pick them out. Elye Wahi was often pulling out to the left to discourage Tomiyasu from stepping out, leaving Deiver Machado in space, while on the other flank Zinchenko was drawn out to Frankowski, leaving space behind him for a Lens player to attack and cross.
It wasn’t long before Lens equalised. Getting nowhere with their sterile passing, Arsenal passed backwards to reset play, and Lens’ frontline took the opportunity to press. David Raya was sloppy with his pass out to Tomiyasu, giving Machado the chance to intercept and pass forward to Wahi. Having split wide when in possession, William Saliba and Gabriel both scrambled back into the middle, but Wahi took a touch then flicked the ball wide to Thomasson. Left in space, he was able to make up for his earlier mistake, calmly curling the ball the ball inside the far post on the half-volley.
Lens looked invigorated after the goal, pressing higher and getting a decent spell of possession, but the game soon reverted to its previous state: Arsenal in possession, pushing Lens back, but failing to do anything more than holding onto the ball.
The longer the game went on, the more confident Lens became. With Arsenal doing little to punish them, they seized upon opportunities to press rather than retreating, allowing them to snatch back the ball and counter. They were also happy to push men forward and hit the ball in behind Arsenal’s backline, looking to turn them – to create this space in behind, Lens’ defenders would often pass amongst themselves, encouraging Arsenal to press, only to then play over this press.
Lens took the lead with a little over twenty minutes to go. Danso spread the ball wide to Frankowski, drawing Zinchenko out, and the Pole played a one-two with Florian Sotoca to play around the Ukrainian. Frankowski advanced and pulled the ball back to Wahi, waiting in a slightly deeper position to finish.
This was an improvement on something we observed about Lens last season: at crosses the attackers had a tendency to simply line up along the six-yard box, making them predictable, yet here Wahi held his run while Machado attacked the back post, giving Frankowski two different potential passing angles. With the ball rolling into his feet as he faced goal, Wahi was able to finish before Saliba could even turn, let alone attempt a block.
Now with a lead to defend, Lens sat back in a 5-4-1, leaving little space to exploit for an already frustrated Arsenal side.
It was a brilliant return to Europe’s premier club competition at Bollaert, and it puts Lens in a good early position to progress from the group.
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