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

The visitors currently find themselves in the relegation zone, and will be aiming to end a winless streak of five games when they travel to the Stade de l'Abbe-Deschamps.

Match preview

After back-to-back wins in August over Montpellier and Strasbourg, Auxerre have endured four straight defeats since against Lyon, Marseille, Rennes and Lorient.

The most recent 3-1 defeat to Lorient looks damaging at first glance, however, Auxerre had more possession than Regis Le Bris's side, and completed 100 more passes.

It has been the defensive side of the game where Jean-Marc Furlan's side have struggled, conceding 10 goals in their last three outings.

In fact, Auxerre have the worst goal difference in Ligue 1, conceding a league-high 19 goals, whilst only netting eight times in their eight games so far.

However, Brest are the only side in the division to have accumulated fewer points in their last five games than Auxerre, so this could be the game for Furlan's side to get back on track.

Michel Der Zakarian will have been hoping to build on an impressive 11th-place finish last season, however, that has not been the case.

There is still plenty of time to turn things around, but they have won once so far this season - a 3-1 win away from home against Angers.

Since that victory, The Pirates have only been able to record one point from the five games that have followed.

A narrow defeat at home to Ajaccio before the international break means that Brest remain in the relegation zone ahead of their trip to the Stade de l'Abbe-Deschamps on Sunday.

Der Zakarian's side have conceded the joint-second highest number of goals in the division - 18, just one behind Auxerre's 19 - but they tightened things up before the international break.

They held free-scoring Paris Saint-Germain to a single goal, and only conceded once to Ajaccio, suggesting a more cautious approach in Brest's tactical set-up.

Interestingly, Brest have won the last three meetings between the sides so they may fancy their chances this weekend.

Auxerre Ligue 1 form:

W

W

L

L

L

L

Brest Ligue 1 form:

W

L

L

D

L

L

Team News

The hosts will be without Gaetan Charbonnier, Theo Pellenard and Julian Jeanvier, who will all miss the game through injury.

Jubal looks to retain his place in the defence, as he has started every game for Auxerre so far this season.

In fact, the rest of the defence looks set to remain unchanged, with Paul Joly, Alexandre Coeff and Gideon Mensah all starting the previous two games.

In addition, M'Baye Niang led the line for Jean-Marc Furlan's side against Rennes and Lorient, suggesting he may opt for the Senegal international again here in favour of Nuno Da Costa.

The visitors will travel without the injured duo of Jeremy Le Douaron and Noah Fadiga.

However, they will welcome Youcef Belaili back into the fold, after he served a one-match suspension against Ajaccio due to an accumulation of yellow cards.

Brest have operated with a four-man defence for the majority of the season, however Der Zakarian opted for a back five in their previous two games against Ajaccio and Paris Saint-Germain. They only conceded once in both games, so it would make sense to stick with that formation here.

Auxerre possible starting lineup:

Costil; Joly, Jubal, Coeff, Mensah; Toure, Autret, Sakhi; Perrin, Niang, Hein

Brest possible starting lineup:

Bizot; Dari, Chardonnet, Brassier; Duverne, Lees-Melou, Camara, Pereira Lage, Belkebla; Honorat, Slimani

We say: Auxerre 0-1 Brest

Both sides will view this fixture as a good opportunity to turn their fortunes around and begin to put a positive run of results together.

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