Second-place Monaco will look to consolidate their place in the Champions League positions when they visit Brest in Ligue 1 on Saturday.
After a dream debut season in Europe, Brest still have dreams of returning to continental action next season, but they will need some big results if they are to make that a reality.
Match preview
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With Ligue 1 not set to benefit from one of the two additional Champions League places, that means only the top seven will qualify for continental football next season, assuming Paris Saint-Germain win the Coupe de France.
Brest currently find themselves eighth, five points behind Lyon with just seven games remaining, so the task looks difficult for Eric Roy's men from this point.
That is despite some fine form of late that has kept faint hopes alive, especially after last week's entertaining 4-2 win at Toulouse, meaning they have now taken seven points from their last three matches.
The win moved Brest above Lens in the standings, but if they want to hunt down Lyon and the rest of the top seven, they must drastically improve here at home in the final few games of the season.
Roy's side have won just one of their last seven at the Stade Francis-Le Ble, a slightly surprisingly downturn in form after winning five in a row on home soil prior.
Punching up has been tough for Brest domestically as well, despite their exploits in the Champions League, because the Pirates have lost all six matches against clubs currently in the top five so far this season, conceding 20 goals in the process, so that does not bode well ahead of the visit of Monaco.
The hosts have a particularly dismal record against Monaco too, having lost six in a row against their upcoming opponents - the club's longest ongoing losing streak against another team.
With 20 defeats in 32 Ligue 1 encounters with Monaco, that is the highest losing percentage Brest have suffered against any club in the top flight, and they added to that unwanted tally in the reverse fixture, going down 3-2 at the Stade Louis II.
Monaco will be brimming with confidence after a hugely important 2-1 win over fellow top-four rivals Nice last week too, where Breel Embolo put a tough season to one side to net the winner.
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That come-from-behind win moved Adi Hutter's men into second place after Marseille were beaten at Reims, and there is now a three-point gap between Monaco and fourth-place Nice in the non-automatic Champions League qualifying spot.
The visitors have hit form at the perfect time, taking 10 points from their last four games, and it has been their red-hot attack who they have to thank for that upturn in form, considering Monaco have scored 19 goals across their last seven games in all competitions.
Embolo's winner also prevented PSG from sealing the title last weekend, but Monaco are a whopping 21 points behind the leaders with only 21 points still up for grabs, with this being the second-largest margin between first and second at this stage in a Ligue 1 season, after Monaco trailed PSG by 24 points in 2015-16.
Even if PSG slip up at home to Angers, the likelihood of them winning the title this weekend will be boosted by the fact Monaco have only won one of their nine away games in 2025, and that was against a woefully out-of-form Angers outfit.
Team News
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Brest will have Hugo Magnetti and Massadio Haidara available again after suspension, but there are still numerous injury concerns for manager Roy.
Ibrahim Salah and Soumaila Coulibaly are recent additions to an injury list that already included important defenders Brendan Chardonnet and Jordan Amavi, as well as Jonas Martin, who has missed the majority of action over the past few months.
Monaco were finally able to welcome Folarin Balogun back after a recurrence of a shoulder injury kept him out for much longer than initially expected.
Balogun was only a substitute though, despite Hutter sacrificing Eliesse Ben Seghir to play two up front, with Embolo partnering the in-form Mika Biereth, and both got on the scoresheet.
Vanderson was only on the bench after returning late from Brazil duty last week, while Kassoum Ouattara, Soungoutou Magassa and Jordan Teze are currently on the treatment table.
Brest possible starting lineup:
Bizot; Lala, Le Cardinal, Ndiaye, Zogbe; Pereira Lage, Lees-Melou, Camara, Magnetti, Doumbia; Ajorque
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Kohn; Vanderson, Singo, Kehrer, Caio Henrique; Akliouche, Zakaria, Camara, Ben Seghir; Embolo, Biereth
We say: Brest 1-1 Monaco
With just one win in nine on the road in 2025, Monaco's recent excellent form at home has not been reciprocated as well on the road, and this will be a challenging fixture for Hutter's side.
Brest simply have to win all of their remaining home games if they are to have a chance of breaking into the top seven, but Monaco have hit form over the past month, and the hosts may not have enough for the three points.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
