A Clermont side rooted to the foot of the Ligue 1 standings welcome in-form Brest to the Stade Gabriel Montpied on Sunday.
Despite both coming into this fixture on the back of recent defeats, Clermont's position looks perilous, while Brest could potentially make history for all the right reasons this season.
Match preview
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After putting a very disappointing end to 2023 behind them, where Clermont managed just two points from a possible 18, Pascal Gastien's side have fallen into another rut since beating Nantes on their Ligue 1 return.
Two back-to-back home ties with Strasbourg saw Clermont eliminated from the Coupe de France and held to a 1-1 draw in the league by the Alsace club.
Then, in one of their most abominable performances of the season so far, the Lancers were thrashed 4-0 at Lille last weekend, conceding all of the goals inside a dreadful opening 40 minutes.
That result sent them bottom of the table, following Lorient's win against fellow relegation candidates Metz, as there is also a four-point gap between themselves and safety now.
With the bottom seven separated by just five points though, all hope is not yet lost, but facing sides in the top nine over their next four games means Clermont may be stuck in the bottom three for a couple of weeks at least.
Facing a side they have not beaten in their last 10 meetings is not ideal either, as Brest have a superb recent record against Clermont.
The visitors have won their last four matches against their upcoming opponents by an aggregate score of 10-2, including a 3-0 success in the reverse back in December, early in their current long unbeaten league run.
That has catapulted Brest up the Ligue 1 table after a mini-wobble threatened to derail their season in October and November.
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An incredible 21 points from nine games means they remain third heading into the weekend, despite drawing their last two league matches.
They were two devilishly difficult fixtures though, and manager Eric Roy will be delighted to have come out of them with their unbeaten record still intact.
After going 2-0 down at the Parc des Princes to runaway leaders Paris Saint-Germain, it looked certain that their run was coming to an end, but an inspired second-half fightback saw Brest draw 2-2 in the capital.
Last weekend, another tough assignment was handed to Ligue 1's surprise package, as they faced a stubborn Nice side and held them to a 0-0 draw at the Stade Francis-Le Ble.
That tough run of games has allowed Lille and Monaco to close the gap behind them to just one point, but they remain in an automatic Champions League spot for now; an incredible feat for a side who have never qualified for Europe before, and have not finished in the top half of the top flight since the 1980s.
Brest's 11-game unbeaten run in all competitions came to an end in midweek though, as another trip to the Parc des Princes saw PSG knock them out of the Coupe de France.
Team News
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Clermont will remain without Alan Virginius (knee) and Cheick Oumar Konate (ankle) with injury, but they can welcome Jeremie Bela back to the side after Angola's elimination from the Africa Cup of Nations.
Chrislain Matsima was given an instant full debut after arriving on loan from Monaco and played 90 minutes last weekend in the defeat at Lille, but they were unable to spend any of the money recouped by selling Rennes-bound defender Alidu Seidu, as he departed the club late in the window for an eight-figure fee.
Brest will be without important defender Lilian Brassier after he was sent off for a second bookable offence in the second half of their defeat to PSG in midweek.
Brassier will be joined on the sidelines by Jeremy Le Douaron and Jordan Amavi, who are both injured, but Bilal Brahimi made a return to the squad for the PSG clash after a brief absence.
The club's sole AFCON representative also made his comeback on Wednesday, as Kamory Doumbia returned following Mali's elimination and featured from the start.
Clermont possible starting lineup:
Diaw; Pelmard, Matsima, Caufriez; Zeffane, Magnin, Gastien, Neto Borges; Boutobba, Nicholson, Allevinah
Brest possible starting lineup:
Bizot; Lala, Le Cardinal, Chardonnet, Locko; Camara, Magnetti, Lees-Melou; Del Castillo, Satriano, Pereira Lage
We say: Clermont 0-2 Brest
After battling through two very tough games against the top two, Brest are expected to return to winning ways here to keep up their dream of playing Champions League football next season.
While in the midst of a woeful run of form that has sent them bottom of Ligue 1 once more, Brest are not the opponents Clermont would have wished to face next, and they are likely to remain rooted to the foot of the table here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
