Preview: Angers vs. Brest - prediction, team news, lineups

Separated by 4 places successful the Ligue 1 table, Angers and Brest look disconnected successful the 16th circular astatine Stade Raymond Kopa connected Sunday, keen to get 2025 disconnected to a promising start.

The promoted broadside person endured a miserable instrumentality to top-tier shot and are a constituent wide of the bottommost 2 earlier facing an hostile whose signifier appeared to beryllium turning astir anterior to the wintertime break.

Match preview

© Imago

After 4 league defeats successful 5 matches earlier the hiatus, Angers instrumentality to top-flight action, hoping for a affirmative commencement to the twelvemonth and to debar sliding into the relegation zone.

Alexandre Dujeux's 15th-placed men person 13 points from 15 rounds, level with Saint-Etienne successful the relegation playoff spot and a constituent supra second-bottom Le Havre.

A 3rd consecutive decision and results elsewhere going against them — Saint-Etienne big Reims and Le Havre sojourn Marseille — could spot Les Noirs et Blancs extremity the gameweek successful the dreaded bottommost 2 spots.

However, the signifier array favours nary of the aforementioned strugglers, who person identical records successful their erstwhile 5 Ligue 1 matches, accruing 3 points and losing four.

It volition beryllium absorbing to spot if the hiatus causes a alteration successful Le SCO's performances and results, with the fourth-bottom broadside successful information of firing blanks successful 3 top-flight matches connected the trot, having mislaid 3-0 to Lyon and 2-0 astatine Rennes earlier the break.

© Imago

Those prospects are feasible, fixed the signifier Brest showed earlier the pause, with Eric Roy's broadside notching 3 wins successful each competitions, having mislaid 4 of their erstwhile 5 matches (one win).

Although the 11th-placed Pirates fertile 12th successful the signifier array aft claiming 3 points much than Sunday's hosts, Brest's 2 victories came successful the last 3 rounds earlier the crook of the year, suggesting a instrumentality to form.

Having not claimed consecutive league wins since April past year, erstwhile they bushed Lorient (1-0) and Metz (4-3), facing a struggling Angers broadside offers Les Pirates an accidental to halt that unwanted nine-month run.

With results against the Black and Whites lasting Roy's men successful bully stead, arsenic evidenced by a three-match winning streak against this weekend's opponents, Les Ti'Zefs question a 3rd consecutive triumph implicit Le SCO and a 4th successful each competitions.

However, a wretched distant grounds dampens immoderate optimism successful the travelling support, who person witnessed six losses connected the roadworthy successful their erstwhile 7 matches, including 3 connected the trot astatine Montpellier (3-1), Monaco (3-2) and Lille (3-1).

The ongoing series of defeats connected their travels follows a 2-1 triumph implicit Reims successful precocious October aft a three-match distant losing sequence, and a setback successful Angers would beryllium the Pirates' longest streak of disappointments since losing 4 matches betwixt November and December 2019 astatine Amiens (1-0), Marseille (2-1), Lille (1-0) and Montpellier (4-0).

Angers Ligue 1 form:

Angers signifier (all competitions):

Brest Ligue 1 form:

Brest signifier (all competitions):

Team News

© Imago

Cedric Hountondji struggled with a hamstring wounded astatine the backmost extremity of 2024, and the centre-back volition beryllium assessed, portion Sidiki Cherif (leg), Justin-Noel Kalumba (ankle) and Emmanuel Biumla (leg) are improbable to feature.

No subordinate connected the Angers roster has surpassed Himad Abdelli's 5 extremity involvements, positioning the attacking midfielder arsenic the location side's starring threat.

Pierre Lees-Melou's ankle wounded volition beryllium assessed earlier Sunday, meaning the midfield antheral could articulation Jonas Martin (muscle), Julien Le Cardinal (hamstring), Soumaila Coulibaly (pelvic) and Bradley Locko (Achilles) connected the sidelines.

Abdallah Sima scored doubly disconnected the seat successful the Pirates' past league fixture of 2024, and the wide attacker could beryllium rewarded with a commencement this weekend.

Mama Balde, whose 2 match-winning goals are 2 shy of Paris Saint-Germain's Bradley Barcola, should commencement astatine centre-forward.

Angers imaginable starting lineup:
Fofana; Arcus, Bamba, Lefort, Hanin; Aholou, Belkebla; Allevinah, Abdelli, Melali; Dieng

We say: Angers 1-2 Brest

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