In a crucial clash at the bottom of Ligue 1, Clermont Foot will welcome the visit of Reims to the Stade Gabriel Montpied on Sunday afternoon.
Looking to avoid an immediate return to the second tier, Clermont will begin the new year a slender one point above the relegation zone.
Match preview
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A remarkable one defeat from their opening five Ligue 1 matches had left Clermont dreaming of a comfortable campaign, but a torrid run of form to end the calendar year has seen Les Lanciers slump down the table.
Victory over Angers in their final Ligue 1 match of 2021 ended a run of seven consecutive games without a win, whilst simultaneously ending a wait of two months for three points.
It was just their fourth win of the campaign, with Clermont boasting only two victories from the last 16 Ligue 1 outings – form that has led to the club being embroiled in a relegation scrap.
Clermont's saving grace this season could be the quality at the bottom of the table being uncharacteristically poor, with the likes of St. Etienne, Bordeaux and Metz all threatened by the drop.
Whilst they may currently sit above Sunday's opponents, Reims are another side who begin the year uncertain of their top-flight status.
Unlike Clermont, Reims ended 2021 in strong form, picking up 10 points from a possible 15 in their final five matches – a run that included an impressive 1-1 draw away to 10-time French champions Marseille.
That point came away from home for Reims, where they have enjoyed a selection of positive results this season and sit inside the top half of the form table for matches played on the road.
Unbeaten in their last five away matches, Reims will be eyeing up a double over Clermont after they triumphed in the pair's opening meeting of the season.
Last winning both of their matches during a season over Clermont in 2017, Reims have been beaten only once in the pair's previous six encounters.
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Team News
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Clermont's hopes of victory on Sunday have been dealt a rather significant blow as a number of first-team regulars are set to be absent from the squad.
Florent Ogier (ankle), Jason Berthomier (groin), Jean-Claude Billong (ankle) and Cedric Hountondji (groin) will all miss the match through injury, while Yadaly Diaby is still serving a red card suspension.
One of a number of sides in the division with players competing in the Africa Cup of Nations, trio Saif-Eddine Khaoui (Tunisia), Mohamed Bayo (Guinea) and Jim Allevinah (Gabon) will not be available for manager Pascal Gastien.
Similarly to Sunday's opponents, Reims will be without four players due to the Africa Cup of Nations after El Bilal Toure (Mali), Moreto Cassama (Guinea-Bissau), Moussa Doumbia (Mali) and Ghislain Konan (Ivory Coast) all flew out to Cameroon to compete for their nations.
Elsewhere, Hugo Ekitike will be unavailable as he continues to serve a red card suspension, whilst Arber Zeneli has been ruled out until May with an ACL injury.
Fode Doucoure and Marshall Munetsi could feature in a small capacity after time out with injury, yet the same cannot be said for Mathieu Cafaro, who continues to recover from illness.
Clermont possible starting lineup:
Desmas; Zedadaka, Seidu, Albert, Mendy; Magnin, Gastien; Dossou, Tell, Rashani; Hamel
Reims possible starting lineup:
Diouf; Mbow, Faes, Abdelhamid; Flips, Sissoko, Doumbia, Locko; Kebbal, Mbuku; Koffi
We say: Clermont 1-2 Reims
Clermont have excited at times this season and have been a welcome addition to the French top flight.
However, a depleted squad will likely mean a defeat for Clermont, with Reims the most probable to take three points.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Clermont win with a probability of 40.61%. A win for Reims had a probability of 31.29% and a draw had a probability of 28.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Clermont win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.37%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.23%) and 2-0 (7.75%). The likeliest Reims win was 0-1 (10.5%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.14%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 9.9% likelihood.
