Two Ligue 1 teams experiencing contrasting runs of form will lock horns on Sunday afternoon as Bordeaux welcome Strasbourg to the Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux.
The hosts have suffered four successive defeats across all competitions, while the visitors are looking to claim their seventh victory in nine matches.
Match preview
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Bordeaux's fight for survival in Ligue 1 was dealt another blow last weekend as they suffered a humbling 6-0 defeat away against Rennes.
Martin Terrier and Benjamin Bourigeaud put Rennes two goals to the good, before Bordeaux's Issouf Sissoko was given his marching orders five minutes after the break, and from that moment on, the floodgates opened for the hosts.
Four more goals in the final half-an-hour from Gaetan Laborde, Adrien Truffert and Serhou Guirassy (2) condemned the Girondins to their heaviest league defeat this century.
Vladimir Petkovic's side are sitting 19th in the table and one point adrift of safety, so all hope is not lost just yet, though they need to quickly resolve their defensive frailties if they are to pick up points anytime soon.
The Girondins are yet to keep a single clean sheet after 21 Ligue 1 matches and they are the fastest team to have conceded 50 goals at this stage of the season since Nice back in 1978-79.
Bordeaux's chances of turning their fortunes around this weekend are seemingly slim, especially against a Strasbourg side who they have lost against in each of their last four home meetings in Ligue 1, the longest consecutive losing streak on home soil against a single opponent in their top-flight history.
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Strasbourg claimed their third successive league victory when they beat Clermont 2-0 away from home last weekend.
Kevin Gameiro opened the scoring for the visitors on the stroke of half time before an own goal from Cedric Hountondji in the 77th minute sealed all three points for Julien Stephan's men.
The Racers remain fourth in the Ligue 1 standings, two points behind Marseille in third and two points ahead of Monaco in sixth, who are sitting just outside the European places.
Strasbourg are enjoying their best top-flight campaign for over 40 years this season, accumulating 35 points from their 21 games so far.
Stephan's side have won each of their last three away games in Ligue 1, and on Sunday they will be looking to win four on the bounce for the first time since they did between May and August back in 1974.
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Team News
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Bordeaux will be without Paul Baysse (knee), Amadou Traore (thigh) and Jimmy Briand (foot) due to injury, while Jean Onana is away with Cameroon at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Sissokho is suspended following his red card last time out and the midfielder is set to be replaced by winger Javairo Dilrosun, with Yacine Adli moving into the middle of the pitch alongside Tom Lacoux.
Former Sunderland and Fulham striker Josh Maja will be pushing to start, though he faces competition from M'Baye Niang and Hwang Ui-jo.
As for Strasbourg, Maxime Le Marchand (back) and Moise Sahi Dion (muscle) are nursing injuries, while Habib Diallo and Alexander Djiku are still away on AFCON duty.
Goalkeepers Matz Sels and Eiji Kawashima have both recovered from COVID-19 and the former is set to be handed the number one jersey this weekend.
Striker Ludovic Ajorque, who has scored seven goals in his last 10 Ligue 1 matches, is expected to lead the line alongside Gameiro in attack.
Bordeaux possible starting lineup:
Costil; Pembele, Kwateng, Mexer, Mangas; Dilrosun, Adli, Lacoux, Oudin; Elis, Hwang
Strasbourg possible starting lineup:
Sels; Perrin, Nyamsi, Caci; Guilbert, Bellegarde, Prcic, Lienard; Thomasson; Gameiro, Ajorque
We say: Bordeaux 0-3 Strasbourg
Bordeaux cannot stop conceding goals, while only Paris Saint-Germain have scored more than Strasbourg in Ligue 1 this season.
Everything points towards a comfortable victory for the visitors on Sunday, with the likes of Ajorque and Gameiro set to have plenty of joy in the final third.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
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 Strasbourg win with a probability of 52.11%. A draw had a probability of 24.8% and a win for Bordeaux had a probability of 23.08%.
The most likely scoreline for a Strasbourg win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.92%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (9.66%) and 1-2 (9.55%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.79%), while for a Bordeaux win it was 1-0 (7.28%). The actual scoreline of 4-3 was predicted with a 0.2% likelihood.
