Separated by four places in the Ligue 1 table, Angers and Brest face off in the 16th round at Stade Raymond Kopa on Sunday, keen to get 2025 off to a promising start.
The promoted side have endured a miserable return to top-tier football and are a point clear of the bottom two before facing an opponent whose form appeared to be turning around prior to the winter break.
Match preview
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After four league defeats in five matches before the hiatus, Angers return to top-flight action, hoping for a positive start to the year and to avoid sliding into the relegation zone.
Alexandre Dujeux's 15th-placed men have 13 points from 15 rounds, level with Saint-Etienne in the relegation playoff spot and a point above second-bottom Le Havre.
A third consecutive defeat and results elsewhere going against them — Saint-Etienne host Reims and Le Havre visit Marseille — could see Les Noirs et Blancs end the gameweek in the dreaded bottom two spots.
However, the form table favours none of the aforementioned strugglers, who have identical records in their previous five Ligue 1 matches, accruing three points and losing four.
It will be interesting to see if the hiatus causes a change in Le SCO's performances and results, with the fourth-bottom side in danger of firing blanks in three top-flight matches on the trot, having lost 3-0 to Lyon and 2-0 at Rennes before the break.
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Those prospects are feasible, given the form Brest showed before the pause, with Eric Roy's side notching three wins in all competitions, having lost four of their previous five matches (one win).
Although the 11th-placed Pirates rank 12th in the form table after claiming three points more than Sunday's hosts, Brest's two victories came in the final three rounds before the turn of the year, suggesting a return to form.
Having not claimed consecutive league wins since April last year, when they beat Lorient (1-0) and Metz (4-3), facing a struggling Angers side offers Les Pirates an opportunity to halt that unwanted nine-month run.
With results against the Black and Whites standing Roy's men in good stead, as evidenced by a three-match winning streak against this weekend's opponents, Les Ti'Zefs seek a third straight win over Le SCO and a fourth in all competitions.
However, a wretched away record dampens any optimism in the travelling support, who have witnessed six losses on the road in their previous seven matches, including three on the trot at Montpellier HSC (3-1), Monaco (3-2) and Lille (3-1).
The ongoing sequence of defeats on their travels follows a 2-1 victory over Reims in late October after a three-match away losing sequence, and a setback in Angers would be the Pirates' longest streak of disappointments since losing four matches between November and December 2019 at Amiens (1-0), Marseille (2-1), Lille (1-0) and Montpellier (4-0).
Team News
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Cedric Hountondji struggled with a hamstring injury at the back end of 2024, and the centre-back will be assessed, while Sidiki Cherif (leg), Justin-Noel Kalumba (ankle) and Emmanuel Biumla (leg) are unlikely to feature.
No player on the Angers roster has surpassed Himad Abdelli's five goal involvements, positioning the attacking midfielder as the home side's leading threat.
Pierre Lees-Melou's ankle injury will be assessed before Sunday, meaning the midfield man could join Jonas Martin (muscle), Julien Le Cardinal (hamstring), Soumaila Coulibaly (pelvic) and Bradley Locko (Achilles) on the sidelines.
Abdallah Sima scored twice off the bench in the Pirates' last league fixture of 2024, and the wide attacker could be rewarded with a start this weekend.
Mama Balde, whose two match-winning goals are two shy of Paris Saint-Germain's Bradley Barcola, should start at centre-forward.
Angers possible starting lineup:
Fofana; Arcus, Bamba, Lefort, Hanin; Aholou, Belkebla; Allevinah, Abdelli, Melali; Dieng
Brest possible starting lineup:
Bizot; Lala, Chardonnet, Ndiaye, Haidara; Magnetti, Fernandes, Camara; Sima, Balde, Ajorque
We say: Angers 1-2 Brest
Brest seemed to be finding some form before 2024 ended, and the Pirates are backed to notch a fourth consecutive win in all competitions to extend their sequence of Ligue 1 triumphs over struggling Angers to three matches, and four in all tournaments.
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