Local rivals meet on Sunday when Troyes host Reims, where a win for the home side will see them claim their fourth win of the season – just five fewer than they managed in the entirety of last season.
For Reims, a poor start sees Oscar Garcia's side currently sat in the relegation places, but even a point could be enough to lift them out of the drop zone.
Match preview
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Victory for Troyes in this match would be a fourth already from only nine games this season, almost half of their tally of wins from throughout the whole of the 2021-22 campaign.
Troyes come into the game on the back of a convincing 3-1 victory away at Clermont Foot, where Bruno Irles's side responded well to going behind after just two minutes.
A Mama Balde brace and a late Renaud Ripart goal was enough to complete the Troyes comeback and see them climb into the top half of Ligue 1.
Troyes's most impressive display of the season was undoubtedly their 4-2 away win at Monaco, but they have also been on the wrong end of a 3-0 home defeat to Toulouse and a 4-1 defeat at Lyon.
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Meanwhile, Reims are winless in three and sit just one point above the relegation zone going into this weekend's game.
A large part of Reims' struggles has been down to their indiscipline; Oscar Garcia's side have seen five red cards already this season, and have shipped 17 goals in just eight league games.
Last time out Reims were defeated 3-0 at home by Monaco, with goals from Aleksandr Golovin, Takumi Minamino and Wissam Ben Yedder condemning Garcia's men to a second consecutive defeat.
Reims' only win of the season came in a 4-2 victory away at Angers in August, and that was another game which saw one of their players get sent off.
Troyes won the last meeting between the sides back in April, where a late Renaud Ripart goal was the difference between the sides.
Azor Matusiwa, who is suspended for this game, was sent off in the second half of that game too, and it shows how far back some of Reims's poor discipline stretches.
Team News
Bruno Irles has a full squad at his disposal, with no injury concerns or suspensions going into the derby.
Yoann Salmier missed one game earlier this month through suspension, but the injury situation is welcome news for the Troyes boss.
For Reims the outlook is not nearly as promising; Kaj Sierhuis is a long-term absence with a cruciate ligament injury sustained in February, but he is on track to return to training in December.
Thomas Foket and Azor Matusiwa are also expected to miss out with muscle injuries, although Matusiwa has an outside chance of being on the bench for Reims.
Backup goalkeeper Florent Duparchy is also out with a fractured jaw sustained last month, although he would have only made the bench here.
It is not just injuries that are of concern for Reims, as four players will miss out due to suspension. Pape Ndiaga Yade, Maxime Busi, Marshall Munetsi and Dion Lopy are all suspended for the away side, meaning as many as eight players will likely be unavailable here.
Troyes possible starting lineup:
Gallon; Bruus, Porozo, Palmer-Brown, Salmier, Yade; Tardieu, Kouame, Agoume, Ugbo; Balde
Reims possible starting lineup:
Diouf; Gravillon, Agbadou, Abdelhamid; Flips, Cajuste, Doumbia, Mbuku; Zeneli; Ito, Balogun
We say: Troyes 3-1 Reims
Reims are missing a number of key players here and Troyes appear to be hitting good form at the right time, so all the signs point to a convincing home win.
Troyes are yet to keep a clean sheet this season and with the likes of Junya Ito and Folarin Balogun in attack, Reims have enough potency to cause Troyes a few problems. It will however be a huge ask for Reims to take anything from this game.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
