Brest will welcome Le Havre to the Stade Francis-Le Ble on Sunday for a game of major importance at both ends of the Ligue 1 table.
With 11 league games to go, the hosts currently sit second in the midst of an unbeaten streak, while their visitors only lead the bottom three by two points.
Match preview
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Brest return to the Stade Francis-Le Ble on Sunday in fine fettle, having enjoyed a particularly impressive Ligue 1 campaign thus far after a 14th-placed finish last time around.
Indeed, thanks to a growing unbeaten streak, Les Pirates currently sit second in France's top flight behind only runaway leaders and defending champions Paris Saint-Germain, having recently moved into pole position in the fight for European qualification.
From their opening 23 games, in which they have amassed 43 points, Eric Roy's side have suffered just four defeats, with three coming consecutively across October and early November, and they have gone 12 league games unbeaten since, including four straight wins around the turn of the year before they played out consecutive draws with Paris Saint-Germain, Nice and Clermont.
They have since returned to the Champions League spots with back-to-back three-point hauls heading into the weekend, firstly seeing off Marseille on home turf as Pierre Lees-Melou netted the only goal in the dying minutes, despite Les Pirates being reduced to 10 men on the hour mark, before they most recently travelled to Strasbourg and dished out a 3-0 beating thanks to Mahdi Camara's hat-trick.
Now leading Monaco, Nice and Lille by two, three and five points respectively with 11 league games to go in the fight for a top-three finish and a subsequent Champions League spot, Brest will look to give their surprise bid a further boost with a third straight victory on Sunday.
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In their way stand a Le Havre side in desperate need of victories for a different reason, as they bid to fend off the threat of relegation this term.
After winning promotion to Ligue 1 for the first time since 2008 last time around, Les Ciel et Marine currently sit 14th with 24 points from their 23 outings thus far, having previously sat in a secure mid-table position in mid-January with five wins and 22 points on the board from 18 games.
Since the latest of those triumphs, a 3-1 beating of Lyon on home turf, Luka Elsner's side have slipped towards the bottom three amidst a dip in result, albeit during a tough schedule, as they firstly played out draws away at Lorient and third-placed Monaco before suffering 1-0 and 3-0 defeats to Rennes and Lille respectively.
Another tough test at home to Reims followed most recently last Sunday, and they looked set to take a share of the spoils having gone into injury time level at a goal apiece thanks to Abdoulaye Toure's equaliser from 12 yards, but Les Ciel et Marine were eventually denied a point in cruel fashion as they conceded a penalty of their own in the 96th minute, which Mohamed Daramy converted.
While they cannot be too disheartened by the recent results against a run of top-half opposition, Le Havre have quickly dropped into the bottom five and only lead the relegation spots by two points, and with the schedule not getting any easier with second-tier Brest awaiting, Elsner's side will know they must reverse their fortunes sooner rather than later if they are to avoid dropping into the bottom three.
Team News
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Brest should field a similar starting XI to the one that starred in the 3-0 away win over Strasbourg last time out, with attacker Steve Mounie remaining out of contention through suspension.
A change could be afoot in goal though, with Marco Bizot returning from a suspension of his own, and he should come back into the sticks from the start behind an unaltered back four of Kenny Lala, Brendan Chardonnet, Lilian Brassier and Bradley Locko, while Jonas Martin and Pierre Lees-Melou will continue their partnership at the base of the midfield.
Further forward, Martin Satriano will again lead the line in Mounie's absence with support from the trio of Mathias Pereira Lage, Romain Del Castillo and Mahdi Camara, who netted all three goals in Saturday's win to take his tally to five for the season in the top flight.
Le Havre should come into Sunday's trip with a clean bill of health, and they are boosted by the returns of Rassoul Ndiaye and Daler Kuzyaev from suspensions.
Kuzyaev should come in from the outset in an advanced midfield role, with Andre Ayew and Lille loanee Mohamed Bayo also vying to keep their places in the attack.
Elsner is unlikely to make many other changes to his starting XI after the narrow defeat to Reims last time out, with Emmanuel Sabbi continuing to cause a threat on the wing, while Yassine Kechta and Abdoulaye Toure should again partner up in the engine room.
Brest possible starting lineup:
Bizot; Lala, Chardonnet, Brassier, Locko; Lees-Melou, Martin; Pereira Lage, Camara, Del Castillo; Satriano
Le Havre possible starting lineup:
Gorgelin; Sangate, Kinkoue, Lloris, Operi; Toure, Kechta; Sabbi, Kuzyaev, Ayew; Bayo
We say: Brest 2-0 Le Havre
Le Havre competed well against Reims last time out and will be desperate to pick up a result and halt their drop towards the bottom three, but we see the second-placed hosts being too strong and taking all three points to extend their fine run.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
