Aiming to give their fight for survival a much-needed boost, bottom side Lorient will welcome Le Havre to Stade du Moustoir on Sunday afternoon for a Ligue 1 clash.
Les Merlus' woeful run of form continued last time out at Lille, whereas Le Havre have won three-straight matches across the league and Coupe de France.
Match preview
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Following a winless November and December across all competitions, a change of calendar year has not brought about a change in fortunes for basement dwellers Lorient, who have lost back-to-back matches at the beginning of 2024, including a 3-0 defeat at Lille almost a fortnight ago.
Canadian marksman Jonathan David put Les Dogues ahead at Decathlon Arena in the 37th minute and the hosts dominated proceedings throughout, with the visitors failing to register a shot on Lucas Chevalier's goal, as well as conceding two late strikes to Edon Zhegrova and Remy Cabella.
Without a win in nine Ligue 1 contests and 10 matches in all tournaments, Les Merlus sit rock bottom of the French top-flight standings with a mere 12 points from their opening 18 games, four points behind 15th-placed Metz, who finished second behind Regis Le Bris's men in Ligue 2 last term.
Lorient need to address their leaky backline if they wish to escape trouble at the foot of the division, with Sunday's hosts conceding an eye-watering 38 goals in 18 league fixtures - eight more than any other side in Ligue 1 at this point, letting in 15 during their last five matches.
Les Merlus have been relatively active in the January transfer window as they seek to preserve their first-tier status for a fifth year, leading to Imran Louza arriving from Championship club Watford on loan for the remainder of the campaign, with the midfielder possessing the ability to dictate play from the engine room.
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Le Havre are currently enjoying their longest winning run of the 2023-24 campaign, with Sunday's visitors earning three-straight successes since returning from the winter break in matches against Caen and Chateauroux in the Coupe de France, alongside a Ligue 1 maximum over Lyon.
After beating second-placed Nice at Stade Oceane 3-1 on December 16, Luka Elsner's charges were able to repeat the scoreline against relegation-threatened Lyon in their most-recent league match, with Gautier Lloris, Emmanuel Sabbi and Christopher Operi all getting onto the scoresheet.
Two wins from the last three in Ligue 1 have seen Le Havre rise to 11th in the league table ahead of Sunday afternoon's trip to Lorient, holding a six-point advantage over the bottom three during a campaign in which avoiding relegation was the primary goal for the Ligue 2 champions.
Despite making a number of shrewd additions during the summer transfer window - including American Sabbi and Lille loanee Mohamed Bayo - plenty of last season's promotion-gaining squad are making a positive impact at the top table of French football, with Nabil Alioui netting four Ligue 1 goals during his first campaign at this level.
Elsner's men have struggled on the road so far in 2023-24, winning just one of their nine league outings since escaping the troubles of second-tier football in June, scoring only seven goals away from Stade Oceane - only Rennes (five) have netted fewer times on their travels.
Team News
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Lorient suffered a major injury blow earlier this month, with leading goalscorer Romain Faivre set to be sidelined until early February with a knock.
Les Merlus will also be without the services of ex-Chelsea enforcer Tiemoue Bakayoko on Sunday, as the 29-year-old will serve a one-game ban for yellow card accumulation.
The hosts have a number of key first-team players currently away on international duty, including Montassar Talbi, Gedeon Kalulu and Darlin Yongwa.
Le Havre also have a host of players away at the Africa Cup of Nations, although November signing Andre Ayew could be back in action this weekend after Ghana were knocked out of the tournament.
First-choice centre-back Yoann Salmier is taking up a place in the medical room with a back injury, meaning the 31-year-old will be unable to add to his 13 Ligue 1 appearances on Sunday.
After receiving a straight red card in the loss against Reims, Rassoul Ndiaye will serve the final game of his two-match suspension this weekend.
Lorient possible starting lineup:
Mvogo; Mouyokolo, Pelon, Toure; Carioca, Owaga, Abergel, Le Bris; Ponceau, Kari, Kroupi
Le Havre possible starting lineup:
Desmas; Kinkoue, Lloris, Operi; Targhalline, Nego, Kuzyaev, Kechta, Sabbi; Casimir, Ngoura
We say: Lorient 1-2 Le Havre
Lorient have been shipping goals of late, and we can imagine that trend continuing against a Le Havre side who are full of confidence following three-straight victories.
The visitors will be fancying their chances of extending their winning streak to four matches on Sunday, and we reckon that Elsner's side will do just that.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Carter White
