Fresh off a scintillating Champions League victory in midweek, Brest will try and maintain that momentum on Sunday as they resume their Ligue 1 campaign by welcoming Le Havre to Stade Francis-Le Ble.
Both sides are near the bottom of the table after six matchdays, each with six points, with Stade Brestois suffering a 3-0 defeat versus Auxerre in their previous domestic encounter and the Normandy club losing by that same score to Lille.
Match preview
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From their previous domestic fixture to their Champions League affair this week, we saw two different versions of Brest, who followed up a 3-0 defeat versus newly promoted Auxerre with an emphatic 4-0 triumph over Red Bull Salzburg.
Eric Roy will be banned from the touchline this weekend after some harsh criticism made about the officiating in their 2-0 victory over Toulouse.
They may be the early surprise story in Europe, but Brest are not surprising anyone domestically thus far, with Les Pirates currently just two points above the relegation line.
Their home form has been their saving grace to this point of the domestic campaign, winning their last two league matches at Stade Francis-Le Ble by a combined margin of 6-0.
With four defeats after six league fixtures this season, this team have suffered as many losses as they had incurred in their previous 24 Ligue 1 encounters combined.
Brest are unbeaten in their four top-flight home matches against Le Havre, claiming a 1-0 triumph the last time the two sides met in March.
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Under new management, Le Havre have struggled to adapt to Didier Digard's coaching style as they currently sit 14th in the table.
The former defensive midfielder who began his senior career with Le Havre has lost his last three Ligue 1 encounters, one fewer than the longest losing run this team went through in 2023-24.
To this stage of the season, Les Ciel et Marine have looked disorganised defensively, conceding the joint second-most goals in the league thus far (13).
Le Havre have been outscored by a combined margin of 5-1 in their previous two Ligue 1 away matches, and a defeat on Sunday would mark their longest such losing run since returning to the top-flight last season.
At the same time, if they win this weekend, they will exceed their number of away victories in Ligue 1 from a season ago (one).
Le Club Doyen have failed to find the back of the net in six consecutive visits to Stade Francis-Le Ble and have not won a match played there since January 2008, when both sides were in Ligue 2 (2-0).
Team News
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Vice-captain Pierre Lees-Melou remains doubtful for Brest as he is still recovering from a broken leg, and Bradley Locko has an Achilles tendon injury, which will keep him sidelined until February.
From their victory over Toulouse (2-0) to their defeat versus Auxerre, there were wholesale changes made to their starting 11, with goalkeeper Marco Bizot being the only one to maintain his place in the opening lineup, as Ludovic Ajorque started for the first time since their 3-1 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.
Last weekend, Le Havre were missing Elysee Logbo, who is not expected to return to the lineup until the middle of October because of an ACL issue.
Three changes were made to their opening lineup versus Lille, with Etienne Youte Kinkoue, Antoine Joujou and Issa Soumare replacing Yoann Salmier, Daler Kuzyayev and Oussama Targhalline.
Brest possible starting lineup:
Bizot; Lala, Le Cardinal, Chardonet, Haidara; Camara, Fernandes, Faivre; Del Castillo, Ajorque, Salah
Le Havre possible starting lineup:
Desmas; Nego, Sangante, Kinkoue, Lloris, Pembele; Casimir, Toure, Kechta, Sabbi; Soumare
We say: Brest 1-0 Le Havre
Brest have looked relatively comfortable defensively at home in this competition, and though fatigue might play a factor for them on Sunday, we expect to see them grind out another victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
