Still seeking their first victory of 2025, Auxerre will travel to Stade Francis-Le Ble for a Valentine's Day affair with Brest on Friday.
A 2-0 victory over Nantes last weekend lifted the Brittany club to eighth in Ligue 1, while AJA dropped to 11th following a 2-2 draw versus Toulouse.
Match preview
© Imago
It has been an incredibly busy 2025 for Stade Brestois, and the fatigue of that demanding schedule seemed to show on Tuesday as they were beaten 3-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in the opening leg of their Champions League knockout tie.
Aside from their struggles in Europe, though, Eric Roy's men have handled those demands pretty well this year, winning four of their last five matches in this competition.
Their domestic consistency this year has put them back in the conversation to potentially return to Europe next season, currently just two points behind Lyon for a spot in the Europa Conference League.
Les Pirates have won four of their last five Ligue 1 affairs, as many as this club had in their previous 11 contests in this competition.
They have claimed maximum points in three of their previous four top-flight fixtures at Stade Francis-Le Ble, winning those three encounters by a combined margin of 9-3.
Should they lose this match, though, it would be the first time they will have suffered consecutive Ligue 1 defeats at Stade Francis-Le Ble since February- March 2023 (two).
© Imago
Heading into Valentine's Day, there has not been much for Christophe Pelissier to love about his side's performances in quite some time.
With a 2-2 draw last Sunday, AJA are now winless in 10 consecutive matches across all competitions, with just three points in their six league fixtures played this year.
On nine successive occasions, they have failed to claim maximum points in this competition, as they are one of only two sides in Europe's big five leagues that have not won a match in normal time since December, with the other being Reims.
Pelissier has seen his team fail to win three times in the top flight this season when netting the opening goal, squandering two second-half advantages versus Toulouse the last time out.
The Burgundy club have lost their last four domestic encounters away from home, conceding 11 goals while scoring just three over that span.
Auxerre managed to win their previous matchup with Brest in September (3-0) and could claim consecutive Ligue 1 triumphs against them for the first time on Friday.
Team News
© Imago
In their previous Ligue 1 fixture, Brest were missing Bradley Locko with a lower leg issue, Jonas Martin sat out due to a muscle strain, Jordan Amavi was dealing with a sore thigh, while Mahdi Camara will be suspended for this clash.
Ludovic Ajorque scored his team-leading ninth of the campaign, which held up as the winner versus Nantes, with Pierre Lees-Melou adding some insurance deep into stoppage time.
On the Auxerre side, Lasso Coulibaly and Nathan Buayi-Kiala were sidelined last week because of cruciate ligament injuries, Eros Maddy was dealing with a knock, Theo Bair has a lower leg issue, while Paul Joly will miss this encounter through suspension.
Jubal put them in front against Toulouse just beyond the hour mark, with Hamed Traore netting his ninth of the campaign to lead all AJA players in the competition.
Brest possible starting lineup:
Bizot; Lala, Chardonnet, Ndiaye, Haidara; Del Castillo, Lees-Melou, Doumbia; Balde, Ajorque, Sima
Auxerre possible starting lineup:
Leon; Diomande, Jubal, Osho; Danois, Diousse, Massengo, Mensah; Perrin, Traore; Sinayoko
We say: Brest 2-1 Auxerre
Brest should have plenty of momentum given their home form at Stade Francis-Le Ble, and we believe their resilience will win the day against an Auxerre side that are low on confidence and struggling to close out their matches.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
