Reims have an opportunity to win consecutive home fixtures for the first time this season when they host Brest on Sunday at Stade Auguste-Delaune.
Les Rouges et Blancs dropped a 1-0 decision to Nantes last Sunday, as they sit four points behind Brest in the Ligue 1 table, with Les Pirates coming off a fine showing at home to Troyes, winning 5-1.
Match preview
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The once-mighty club that dominated French football in the late 1940s to early 1960s, winning six league titles, have fallen on hard times this year, losing three of their last four Ligue 1 affairs after dropping only one of their previous eight.
A week of solid preparation heading into their match last Sunday changed quickly for Oscar Garcia and his side when captain Yunis Abdelhamid was dismissed in the 14th minute for what the referee deemed a dangerous challenge on Fabio.
Les Canaris made them pay when Moses Simon fired home the ensuing free-kick, as Reims failed to find the back of the net for the fourth time in 2022, which is only one fewer than their form in front of goal in the opening half of the season.
Despite that setback, their Spanish coach was pleased with his players' efforts in the second half, creating a pair of quality scoring opportunities off set-pieces, only being thwarted by some fine goalkeeping from Alban Lafont.
Even though this is a team who have always played solid defensively, one of only six sides in the French top flight to concede fewer than 30 goals this season (28), the former Barcelona midfielder has preached a philosophy built on not having possession just for its own sake, but to hurt the opponent when you have the ball, and that is precisely what they did in their previous home fixture, scoring five times versus Bordeaux in a 5-0 win.
That was the first time that this club had won a Ligue 1 encounter by five or more goals since October 1975, when they defeated Strasbourg 6-0, and their victory a couple of weeks ago should boost their morale with two of their next three league contests taking place in 'the Coronation City'.
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Last Sunday, Brest made a big statement that they do not need to rely on one or two players to win, having now captured two of their last three league encounters.
Losing Romain Faivre to Lyon in the previous transfer window was unquestionably a blow for this team, especially knowing that he was a huge part of the early season success with Les Pirates, scoring seven times and producing five assists.
However, Michel Der Zakarian watched his side show poise and precision versus ESTAC last week, while also being clinical in front of goal, scoring on all five of their efforts on target.
They have put together some solid performances, but have lacked the consistency needed to be an elite team in the French top flight, failing to win consecutive league fixtures since early December.
Five goals was a revelation for them a week ago, but doing that against a much stingier defensive unit this weekend will be a challenge for Brest, who have failed to find the back of the net away from home in each of their previous three matches played in all competitions (losing 2-0 to PSG, Nantes and Rennes).
Stade Brestois are capable of pressing effectively and moving the ball into dangerous areas of the field, while also making their share of recoveries in the middle of the pitch to transition quickly into attack.
So far in 2022, we have seen a side that look unbeatable when taking the lead, winning all three of their matches this year when doing so, conceding only once in that time, however they look lost after allowing the opener, losing their previous four matches in all competitions in that scenario by a combined score of 9-0.
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Team News
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Reims goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic will be happy to return to Stade Auguste-Delaune as the Serbian has been under siege on the road of late, conceding five goals in his last two domestic encounters, but allowing one or fewer in his previous three home matches played in Ligue 1.
Abdelhamid will be suspended for two games following his red card as the list of missing players continues to grow for Garcia with Thomas Foket, El Bilal Toure, Valon Berisha and Jens Cajuste all out with muscle injuries, while Moreto Cassama has a sprained knee.
Andreaw Gravillon is out until late February with a foot injury, Moussa Doumbia has groin issues and Arber Zeneli will not return until at least May due to a problem with his ACL.
In their previous meeting with Brest back in October, Wout Faes tallied the only goal for Les Rouges et Blancs in a 1-1 draw, and the Belgian defender was one of four players to find the back of the net against Les Girondins, with the other strikes coming courtesy of Hugo Ekitike, Azor Matusiwa and Marshall Munetsi, who notched a brace.
For Brest, the only injury concern is goalkeeper Sebastien Cibois, who probably will not be ready to return until late February with an Achilles tendon issue, which means that Marco Bizot, who has conceded twice in each of his last two domestic road fixtures, should get the call this weekend.
Martin Satriano had quite the debut for Stade Brestois last Sunday as the Uruguayan, on loan from Inter, scored twice, as did leading goalscorer Franck Honorat, in their lopsided victory over ESTAC, with the other tally coming courtesy of Steve Mounie, who is now second on the team in scoring with six domestically, one more than Jeremy Le Douaron.
Not only did they put together an impressive display last week, but the team were also able to get contributions from some new sources, including Youcef Belaili, Romain Del Castillo and Paul Lasne, all of whom collected their up first assist of the season.
Reims possible starting lineup:
Rajkovic; Konan, Locko, Faes, Busi; Van Bergen, Matusiwa, Munetsi, Flips; Mbuku, Ekitike
Brest possible starting lineup:
Bizot; Pierre-Gabriel, Chardonnet, Brassier, Duverne; Magnetti, Agoume; Del Castillo, Mounie, Honorat; Satriano
We say: Reims 2-0 Brest
As clinical as they were in their previous encounter, Brest are a much different side away from home, winning only one road fixture since December.
Even though Reims have struggled so far this year, they have proven to be a difficult unit to break down defensively despite their long list of absences, and these players should be full of confidence in their ability to score at home following a clinical display versus Bordeaux.
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 Reims win with a probability of 50.84%. A draw had a probability of 25.3% and a win for Brest had a probability of 23.82%.
The most likely scoreline for a Reims win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.18%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.55%) and 2-1 (9.43%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.02%), while for a Brest win it was 0-1 (7.67%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12% likelihood.
