Two stand-in managers will pit their wits against one another at the Stade Francis-Le Ble in Sunday's Ligue 1 showdown, as Brest face off against Reims.
Bruno Grougi led his side to a 3-1 success over Clermont last time out, while the hosts are also aiming to make it back-to-back wins after besting Auxerre 2-1.
Match preview
© Reuters
Failure to keep the back door shut is still bedevilling this Brest side, but the new manager bounce was in full swing at the Stade Gabriel-Montpied last weekend, as Les Pirates put Clermont to the sword by three goals to one.
Romain Del Castillo was the star of the show for Les Pirates, clinically slotting home a penalty before providing two assists for ex-Clermont man Franck Honorat and Jeremy Le Douaron to complete the job, although a long-awaited clean sheet did not arrive as Jim Allevinah struck a consolation for Clermont in the 89th minute.
Nevertheless, a first Ligue 1 win since August has seen Brest surge off the foot of the table into 17th place, although that ranking would still send them down to the second division, and Grougi's men only sit behind 16th-placed Strasbourg on goal difference as things stand.
Two further fixtures with bottom-half sides in Nice and Troyes also await Brest before the World Cup break, so Grougi is not facing a baptism of fire by any stretch, and fixing Les Pirates' ongoing defensive deficiencies is next on the 39-year-old's agenda.
Indeed, Brest have not kept a single clean sheet all season and have now gone 15 Ligue 1 games without their defence holding firm, while their winless run at the Stade Francis-Le Ble now stands at seven matches before the visit of a Reims side who won in similar circumstances last week.
© Reuters
The likes of Mikel Arteta and Julian Nagelsmann typically come to mind when one thinks of young head coaches, but at the ripe old age of 30, interim Reims manager William Still connected with his equally youthful Reims side to steer them to victory over Auxerre.
There were no prizes for guessing who broke the deadlock on the day, as Folarin Balogun slotted home his seventh Ligue 1 goal of the season on the 28-minute mark, and a late tap-in from Junya Ito completed the job for Reims after M'Baye Niang had headed home an equaliser soon after Balogun's strike.
The similarities between Brest and Reims are uncanny, as Les Rogues et Blancs also saw a lengthy winless run come to an end thanks to their interim head coach, and the visitors to the Stade Francis-Le Ble now occupy 14th place in the table - three points clear of the relegation places.
Victory over Auxerre impressively marked a fourth unbeaten game on the bounce for Reims, whose spate of draws have contributed to their standing in the lower echelons of the table, as Les Rouges et Blancs have already played out six stalemates in 2022-23.
Three of those stalemates have come on the road, where Reims have shared the spoils with Troyes and Lorient in their last two away fixtures, and another close contest could be on the menu here, as both fixtures between Brest and Reims last term ended 1-1.
Team News
© Reuters
Brest have lost midfield lynchpin Pierre Lees-Melou to a one-game ban for an accumulation of yellow cards, so Hugo Magnetti and Haris Belkebla will battle it out to take the Frenchman's spot in the engine room.
Achraf Dari (knee), Jere Uronen (muscle) and Steve Mounie (heel) make up the hosts' trio of injury-related absentees this weekend, while Islam Slimani will be banned for the upcoming clash with Nice but is fine to take part here.
However, the Algerian attacker was only on the pitch for 62 minutes against Clermont before making way for goalscorer Le Douaron, so Grougi should be tempted into an alteration in the final third.
As for Reims, centre-back Andreaw Gravillon is back from a ban of his own for the trip to Brest, and Dion Lopy has also seen his second yellow card from the recent draw with Lorient rescinded.
Lopy was one of two Reims players to see red in that game - the other being Emmanuel Agbadou - and he will serve the second of that two-game ban this weekend. In terms of injuries, Maxime Busi, Marshall Munetsi and Thomas Foket are all down with muscular issues, while Rafik Guitane's knee is giving him grief.
Nineteen-year-old Cheick Keita filled in for Gravillon last week, but the latter will expect an immediate recall to the backline, and Still should otherwise stick with the winning formula from the clash with Auxerre.
Brest possible starting lineup:
Bizot; Fagida, Chardonnet, Brassier, Duverne; Camara, Belkebla, Honorat, Pereira Lage, Del Castillo; Le Douaron
Reims possible starting lineup:
Diouf; Flips, Gravillon, Abdelhamid, Locko; Lopy, Matusiwa; Ito, Doumbia, Zeneli; Balogun
We say: Brest 1-1 Reims
With Brest and Reims both going into Sunday's showdown in near-identical situations, a tight contest ought to be on the menu, and Balogun will need no second invitation to expose the hosts' defensive shortcomings.
Beating a top-half side in Clermont would have done wonders for Les Pirates' confidence, but they have not treated their fans to spectacular showings on their own patch, and we can envisage a third successive 1-1 draw between the two sides here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
