Seeking to keep the pressure on Paris Saint-Germain, Ligue 1 high-flyers Angers prepare to travel to the Stade Francis-Le Ble to take on a winless Brest on Sunday afternoon.
The hosts fell to a 3-1 defeat to Strasbourg last time out, whereas Les Scoistes' stellar run continued with a 2-0 win over Europa Conference League challengers Rennes.
Match preview
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A Dennis Bergkamp-esque strike from Irvin Cardona represented one of the goals of the weekend from gameweek four in Ligue 1, but Brest had little else to celebrate as Julien Stephan's Strasbourg dominated proceedings to ease to a 3-1 success.
Sanjin Prcic would break the deadlock two minutes before Cardona's eye-catching equaliser, but an own goal from Jean-Kevin Duverne would put Brest behind in the 42nd minute before Adrien Thomasson blasted home from close range to pile the misery on Michel Der Zakarian.
Claiming 1-1 draws with Lyon and Rennes represented a solid start to the season for Les Pirates under new management, but crushing defeats to PSG and now Strasbourg sees them occupy the relegation playoff spot at this early stage, with that highly sought-after first win still eluding them.
Brest also took part in a friendly encounter with Ligue 2 outfit Guingamp during the international break but fell to a dampening 4-2 defeat, and Der Zakarian did not pull any punches after the game, lamenting some of his players for 'giving up' before their opponents made the net ripple.
Now without a win in eight Ligue 1 games since overcoming Saint-Etienne 2-1 back in April, Brest are enduring their worst start to a season since their doomed 1987-88 campaign, and they have come up trumps in just two of their 12 league games at home since the turn of the year.
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The Gerald Baticle Angers machine continues to go from strength to strength during a stellar start to the new Ligue 1 season, as Les Scoistes moved onto double figures in points with a dominant 2-0 success against Rennes on home soil last time out.
With the visitors down to 10 on the stroke of half time following Loic Bade's sending off, Sofiane Boufal was on hand to capitalise on a dreadful error from Rennes goalkeeper Alfred Gomis in the 57th minute, and teenage sensation Mohamed-Ali Cho doubled his side's lead in the dying embers of another impressive success.
Second only to title favourites PSG at this early stage of the season, Angers have notched up eight goals at the correct end of the pitch while shipping just one in their defensive third, but Baticle will be under pressure to maintain this vein of form once competition for European places begins to hot up.
It has been 50 years since an Angers manager has navigated his first three away games unbeaten, but Baticle's crop are a team in inspired form, and their recent record against Brest makes for positive reading for the Scoistes faithful.
Indeed, Angers have claimed two wins and one draw from their last three Ligue 1 encounters with Brest - including a thrilling 3-2 success at the Raymond Kopa last term - but the most recent game at the Stade Francis-Le Ble ended goalless.
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Team News
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Brest attacker Romain Faivre was left out of the squad to face Strasbourg amid talk of a late move to AC Milan, but a move for the 23-year-old fell through and he should return to the fold here.
However, left-back Jere Uronen suffered an ankle injury while on international duty with Finland and is doubtful for this one, while Brendan Chardonnet could be involved after overcoming rib pain.
Christophe Herelle may need a bit longer to recover from his knee problem, though, while Lilian Brassier could deputise at left-back if Uronen is ruled out.
Meanwhile, Angers will be forced into an alteration on the left-hand side with Souleyman Doumbia battling an illness, so Mathias Pereira Lage could fill in for his teammate.
The in-form hosts are otherwise in good shape and are set to name a largely unchanged lineup for gameweek five, with Boufal and Cho both set to start after returning from international duty on Wednesday.
Brest possible starting lineup:
Bizot; Pierre-Gabriel, Duverne, Chardonnet, Brassier; Honorat, Magnetti, Belkebla, Faivre; Mounie, Cardona
Angers possible starting lineup:
Bernardoni; Manceau, Traore, Thomas; Cabot, Mangani, Mendy, Lage; Fulgini; Cho, Boufal
We say: Brest 1-2 Angers
Finding the back of the net has never been a problem for Brest, but Der Zakarian is running out of time to inspire a turnaround in attacking fortunes before talk of the sack may come into play.
On the other hand, Baticle's Angers have successfully pitted their wits against Lyon and Rennes and ought to see no reason why their hot streak should end here, so we are backing yet another three points for Les Scoistes.
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 Angers win with a probability of 38.36%. A win for Brest had a probability of 34.07% and a draw had a probability of 27.6%.
The most likely scoreline for an Angers win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.23%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.13%) and 0-2 (7.01%). The likeliest Brest win was 1-0 (10.43%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.02%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 13% likelihood.
