A jam-packed Saturday of Coupe de France action will get underway with Championnat National 2 outfit La Roche taking on Brest at Stade Henri Desgrange.
The hosts earned their spot in the round of 64 by beating US Orleans on penalties, while the visitors will be making their first appearance in the competition this season.
Match preview
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La Roche returned to the Coupe de France for the first time since 2021-22 this season and secured a resounding 6-0 victory over Olympique Cazaux in their first match before their shootout victory over US Orleans.
RVF reached the sixth round of this competition during their last campaign, but that was their best finish since 1987-88 when they reached the round of 16 before being knocked out by Quimper.
However, aside from their results in this competition, it has been a very poor season for Frederic Reculeau's side, as they are third-bottom in their domestic league with just 11 points after 13 matches.
Additionally, after losing their last outing 1-0 to Bordeaux, La Roche are now winless in their last six domestic league games, dating back to a 4-1 win over basement club Granville at the start of October.
Meanwhile, Brest bowed out in the round of 16 last season when they were beaten 3-1 by Paris Saint-Germain, and they have only gone beyond that point in this competition once in the past, way back in 1982-83 when they reached the quarter-final.
Les Pirates signed off 2024 in Ligue 1 with a commanding 4-1 victory over Nantes last weekend, which followed their fourth win in six matches in the Champions League, where they are currently seventh in the standings.
However, while they have been one of the surprise packages in Europe this season, Eric Roy's side have largely struggled to perform at the same level in the French top flight as they did last season, currently in 11th place with just 19 points from 15 games.
In addition, Brest have already shipped a total of 27 goals in Ligue 1 this term, which is the fourth-worst record in the division and just seven shy of the tally they conceded across the entire of last season.
The visitors have also conceded three goals in each of their last four away games across all competitions - albeit to much bigger teams than their upcoming opponent - and have only won three of their 11 matches on the road this season.
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Team News
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A portion of La Roche's struggles this season can be attributed to their fairly extensive casualty list, which features as many as nine players currently sidelined with various injuries.
Thus, manager Reculeau will likely have to opt for a fairly similar lineup to the one he fielded last time out, though the one change that is expected is Makan Sidibe being brought in for Valentin Remy, who is flagged as a minor doubt
Brest also have a fair few players currently on the treatment table, including the likes of Julien Le Cardinal, Pierre Lees-Melou, Marco Bizot, Jonas Martin and Soumaila Coulibaly.
Roy will likely see this as an ideal opportunity to provide a few of his fringe players, such as Luck Zogbe, Paris Irie and Gregoire Coudert, an opportunity to get some game time under their belts.
La Roche possible starting lineup:
Ahamada; Seance, Civet, Jacob, Buaillon; Beaulieu, Sidibe, Araujo, Ndiaye, Villette; Boissy
Brest possible starting lineup:
Coudert; Amavi, Chardonnet, N'Diaye, Zogbe; Camara, Faivre, Magnetti, Irie, Sima, Del Castillo
We say: La Roche 1-3 Brest
Brest may see this competition as a potential backup plan to try and remain in Europe next season given their poor performance in Ligue 1 so far this term. Plenty of changes are expected for the visitors here but we feel they will still claim a fairly straightforward victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
