Bottom of Ligue 1 Clermont Foot will be desperate for victory when they face Stade de Reims on Sunday afternoon with the hosts staring down the barrel of relegation.
The home side are seven points adrift of safety with just four games left to play, while the visitors are looking for wins of their own as they hope to make a late charge for the European qualification places.
Match preview
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Clermont have failed to live up to the heights they achieved last term when they recorded an eighth-placed finish in the league, currently finding themselves in an extremely precarious position with only four fixtures left of the season.
Pascal Gastien's men head into this game rock bottom in Ligue 1, seven points away from 15th-placed Metz with difficult matches against Reims, AS Monaco, Olympique Lyonnais and Lorient still to come.
While Clermont's defence has been far from solid, conceding 49 goals in 30 outings, their biggest problem has been their inability to create and score chances as they have netted a league-low 21 times, six fewer than the next worst side.
Just four games remain for Gastien's team to bridge the seven-point gap to survival and save their status in the top division, leaving them in desperate need of victory in this one.
However, the hosts have only won at the Stade Gabriel Montpied on two occasions this season, most recently taking a crucial three points against relegation rivals Le Havre.
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Clermont do have a good record against Reims in recent years though, recording two wins in their past three meetings, but the visitors have proved themselves as the much superior side this season.
Despite sitting 10th in the league Will Still's men are only six points behind sixth-placed RC Lens, who occupy the final European qualification spot, leaving plenty of opportunity for Reims to climb up the table.
Their four remaining fixtures pit them against relegation candidates Clermont and third-placed Stade Brestois before facing two teams currently rivalling them for a European place in Olympique de Marseille and Stade Rennais.
If they are to close the gap on sixth place then they must improve on their form over the past months, winning just three games since the turn of the year and failing to take all three points from any of their last four.
Reims did show their superiority over Clermont with a 2-0 win in the reverse fixture earlier this season, and Still will be hoping for a similar outcome from this one.
Team News
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Gastien will be without up to three players for this crucial game against Reims due to a series of injuries in recent weeks.
Cheick Oumar Konate and veteran Maxime Gonalons are expected to be out for a number of weeks, while Jim Allevinah is unavailable due to a concussion.
The visitors head into the game with a number of injury concerns of their own.
Joseph Okumu, Maxime Busi, Valentin Atangana Edoa and Mohamed Daramay are all unavailable due to injuries but are all expected to return early next month.
Oumar Diakite is expected to lead the line once again for his side, and the striker is in desperate need of a goal having not scored since a 2-1 win over Metz in March.
Clermont possible starting lineup:
Diaw; Matsima, Pelmard, Caufriez; Magnin, Keita, Gastien, Borges; Cham-Saracevic, Rashani; Virginius
Reims possible starting lineup:
Diouf; Koudou, Agbadou, Abdelhamid, Akieme; Ito, Richardson, Munetsi, Nakamura; Khadra; Diakite
We say: Clermont 0-2 Reims
Clermont have only managed victory on four occasions this term and come up against a Reims side who are looking to make a late charge towards the European places, leading us to believe the visitors will win this one.
The home team have struggled for goals throughout the season and we expect this to continue against Will Still's men, predicting they will fail to find the back of the net for the 14th time this campaign.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ellis Stevens
