The Ligue 1 season enters its final six rounds this weekend, with Strasbourg hosting Reims at Stade de la Meinau on Saturday.
Both sides are undefeated in recent games heading into gameweek 29, even if Patrick Vieira's men are in finer form than the European hopefuls.
Match preview
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While Strasbourg are not assured of Ligue 1 participation next season, they keep taking positive steps in their survival battle, having extended their unbeaten run to three last weekend.
Vieira's team kept back-to-back clean sheets for the first time since May 2023 in a goalless encounter at Toulouse, extending Le Racing's streak to three without losing.
Seven points from nine has lifted Le RCS to 12th in the standings, seven shy of Lorient occupying the relegation playoff spot, 10 ahead of second-bottom Metz and a further two above cellar-dwelling Clermont.
The home support should look forward to Saturday's encounter as the hosts seek another win at La Meinau to follow the 2-0 success over Rennes at the backend of March.
That success came after four straight losses in front of their fans during an eight-match winless period. However, Vieira's men seem to be over the dip in results and should back themselves for a positive culmination to the 2023-24 season.
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Saturday's visitors to Alsace are Reims, undefeated in four Ligue 1 matches and having accrued seven points in that time.
Despite the ongoing run, Will Still's men have been unable to turn draws into victories, although they did earn a 2-2 draw at Paris Saint-Germain on March 10 to start their streak.
A clean sheet for the Red and Whites in last week's goalless encounter with Nice ended an eight-game sequence without a shutout, even if that may have been an upshot of their opponents' underwhelming results — the Eaglets had won once in eight before the previous gameweek.
Facing an in-form Strasbourg should test a Reims side that have won just two away games in eight (four defeats) heading into Saturday's trip to Le Racing.
Regardless, three of those losses came at the start of the eight-match sequence, with Still's men losing one of their recent five top-flight fixtures on their travels, going unbeaten in three (two draws). That undoubtedly offers promise to the away fans keen to extend that undefeated streak to four.
Team News
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Emanuel Emegha and Angelo Gabriel could miss Saturday's game for Strasbourg, with Vieira making do without the forward, who netted three in four appearances last month.
Karol Fila and Lebo Mothiba (both knee) are expected to be absent due to respective issues.
Anticipated to start at centre-back for Reims is Emmanuel Agbadou — with Thomas Foket featuring at right-back — if Joseph Okumu misses out because of the groin problem that forced him off against Nice.
However, Maxime Busi (muscle), Benjamin Stambouli (hamstring), Mohamed Daramy (knee) and Teddy Teuma (calf) have missed recent Ligue 1 fixtures, pointing to possible absences on Saturday.
Strasbourg possible starting lineup:
Bellaarouch; Guilbert, Perrin, Sow; Senaya, Santos, Sissoko, Delaine; Diarra, Gameiro, Bakwa
Reims possible starting lineup:
Diouf; Foket, Agbadou, Abdelhamid, Akeime; Richardson, Edoa; Ito, Khadra, Nakamura; Diakite
We say: Strasbourg 1-1 Reims
Both sides are broadly in decent-to-good form, pointing to a stalemate at La Meinau on Saturday.
Reims have drawn three of their last four visits to Strasbourg (one loss), and the hosts are not anticipated to get the better of Still's men.
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