Making their second appearance in the Coupe de France round of 64 this decade, Hauts Lyonnais will try to pull off a massive upset on Saturday when they host Toulouse from Stade Maurice Rosson.
A 1-0 victory over Carnoux in late November helped propel the club from Pomeys into this round, setting up a showdown with the 2023 winners of this competition.
Match preview
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Another solid opening half in their previous Coupe de France encounter has Hauts Lyonnais into this stage of the tournament once again.
They have not conceded in the opening half of their previous two matches in this competition, outscoring those two opponents by a combined margin of 4-1.
Their Coupe de France form, however, was not enough to save Nicolas Pinard's job after the manager was sacked earlier this week.
Romain Dedola has been named the caretaker boss, but Jeremy Berthod, a former four-time Ligue 1 champion as a player at Lyon, is being linked to the position full-time.
This weekend, though, Dedola will be tasked with instilling some confidence back in a team that have gone winless in their previous four fixtures in the Championnat National 3 competition, sitting bottom of their group with six points from 11 encounters.
If they can pull off the impossible this weekend, it would mark the first time they ever make it beyond the round of 64, losing in this phase against Bastia in 2022.
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The final month of December has seen improvements on behalf of Toulouse, who have won two of their last three league fixtures to sit ninth in the table.
After 15 domestic encounters in 2024-25, they have accumulated 21 points, eight more than they had at this same stage a season ago.
Carles Martinez Novell has seen his side lose consecutive away matches in the top flight, 3-0 at Paris Saint-Germain and 2-0 versus Monaco.
While they have been a middle-of-the-pack side since returning to Ligue 1, Les Violets have fared well in this competition, making it beyond the round of 64 on four successive occasions.
The last time they faced a lower-tiered side at this tournament, however, they were eliminated in a memorable round of 32 clash with FC Rouen last year, with Toulouse falling 12-11 on penalties in a match which ended in a 3-3 draw.
On Saturday, they have an opportunity to win consecutive competitive fixtures for the first time since late October to early November (three), having claimed a 2-1 triumph over Saint-Etienne last weekend.
Team News
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In their previous Coupe de France fixture, Thomas Blot was red-carded after 17 minutes, and the Hauts Lyonnais player will be suspended for this upcoming clash.
A 37th-minute strike by Tom Meyer was enough to advance them into this phase of the competition, with Isidore Tissot collecting a clean sheet.
On the Toulouse side, Rasmus Nicolaisen could be available this weekend despite the Danish defender previously sustaining an ankle injury.
Second-half goals by Shavy Babicka and Zakaria Aboukhlal propelled Le Tefece to a come-from-behind victory in their previous affair against Les Verts.
Hauts Lyonnais possible starting lineup:
Tissot; Loirette, Muller, Cabaton, Poncet; Bouguerra, Cottin, Meyer; Prault, Dumas, Bengueddoudj
Toulouse possible starting lineup:
Dominguez; Akdag, Cresswell, McKenzie; Gboho, Casseres, Sierro, Genreau; Magri, Aboukhlal; Babicka
We say: Hauts Lyonnais 0-4 Toulouse
Even if Toulouse do not play all of their regulars, which is possible, this still has the makings of a mismatch at every position, and we have difficulty believing the home side can do anything besides keep Le Tef at bay for a while.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
