Battling it out for a last-16 spot in this season's Coupe de France, Brest and Nantes will meet at Stade Francis-Le Ble on Wednesday evening.
Both sides may be stuck inside the bottom half of Ligue 1, but they are still contenders to lift the French Cup.
Match preview
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Brest recently ended an historic year in the French top flight with an assured 4-1 defeat of Nantes, capping off a special 12 months in which they upset all the odds to achieve Champions League qualification.
Eric Roy's side then signed off for 2024 by beating La Roche in the Coupe de France, with Ludovic Ajorque scoring the only goal and securing progress to the last 32.
After suffering a 2-0 defeat to Angers in their year-opening league fixture, Les Pirates bounced straight back by claiming their first victory of 2025 last weekend.
First-half strikes from Ajorque and Mahdi Camara put Brest in control at Stade Francis-Le Ble, and they went on to post an impressive 2-1 win over top-four contenders Lyon, leaving them 11th in the Ligue 1 table.
In all, the Breton club will play seven times throughout January, including their final two league-phase fixtures in the Champions League, where they are well-placed to reach the knockout stage.
First, though, they aim to take one step closer to winning the Coupe de France, having never lifted the famous trophy in over 100 years of trying.
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While Brest have lost just one of their last eight league games on home turf, Nantes will arrive in Brittany with only one Ligue 1 away win under their belt this term.
Despite his side sitting perilously close to the drop zone, veteran coach Antoine Kombouare has so far swerved the sack, with a recent upturn in results saving his skin.
After defeating Drancy to progress in the cup, Les Canaris started 2025 by holding Lille to a draw, before welcoming Monaco to Stade de la Beaujoire last Friday.
Though they led by two goals, thanks to Kelvin Amian and Matthis Abline, they ultimately had to settle for a single point - albeit one that keeps them just outside of the bottom three.
Now the 2022 winners - who then lost 5-1 in the 2023 final - will continue their quest for a fourth Coupe de France. However, they have lost three of their last four meetings with Brest, scoring just one goal.
Team News
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Still burdened by a significant injury list, Brest have welcomed both Soumaila Coulibaly and Bradley Locko back to light training this week, although neither will feature on Wednesday.
Julien Le Cardinal and Jonas Martin are also unavailable, while left-backs Jordan Amavi and Massadio Haidara both picked up knocks against Lyon.
Influential midfielder Pierre Lees-Melou is close to a return, though, and could be named in Eric Roy's squad.
Meanwhile, Nantes will be without injured pair Pedro Chirivella and Tino Kadewere, while Ignatius Ganago has moved on loan to MLS club New England Revolution.
Goalkeeper Alban Lafont has been dropped from the squad by Antoine Kombouare, so veteran stopper Anthony Lopes should start between the posts, having recently signed for Les Canaris on a short-term contract.
Brest possible starting lineup:
Bizot; Lala, Chardonnet, Ndiaye, Zogbe; Magnetti, Fernandes, Faivre; Del Castillo, Ajorque, Balde
Nantes possible starting lineup:
Lopes; Amian, Pallois, Zeze, Cozza; Castelletto; Thomas, Augusto, Lepenant, Simon; Abline
We say: Brest 2-1 Nantes
Neither side has a good defensive record this season, so there could be several goals in this midweek cup clash.
As Brest are tougher to beat on home turf - and Nantes rarely fare well on the road - Les Pirates should progress to the next round.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
