Preview: Reims vs. Ajaccio - prediction, team news, lineups

Les rouges et blancs sit 10th in the French top flight thanks to their impressive form in recent months, while the visitors will aim to break out of the relegation zone as they only trail 16th-placed Auxerre on goal difference.

Match preview

Reims come into the weekend in the midst of the longest unbeaten run in Ligue 1, having still not suffered a league defeat under the management of Will Still.

The manager took over in mid-October following Oscar Garcia's dismissal, and in his 15 games at the helm, they have managed to put 29 points on the board, courtesy of seven victories and eight draws.

That includes three triumphs in their last five games, starting with a 4-2 beating of Rennes, while Les rouges et blancs have now not conceded in any of their last four outings, with a 4-0 thrashing of Troyes coming between goalless stalemates against Auxerre and Nice.

Following that latest draw, Still's men were most recently in action at home to Toulouse last Sunday, and they again prevailed in dominant fashion in a 3-0 win, having led by two goals inside the first 10 minutes through Junya Ito and Marshall Munetsi, before Yunis Abdelhamid capped off the performance with their third after the hour mark.

Such an eye-catching run of form has seen Reims establish themselves in the top half of Ligue 1, and with ninth-placed Lyon and eighth-placed Lorient just one and two points ahead respectively, the hosts will be keen to extend their streak and make it back-to-back wins on Sunday to continue their climb.

They meet an Ajaccio side who are fighting to move out of the relegation zone after an important victory last time out, in their bid to preserve their top-flight status after winning promotion last term.

After picking up just 15 points from their opening 20 league outings, L'ours put three crucial points on the board with a 2-1 win away at basement side Angers at the beginning of February, courtesy of Mounaim El Idrissy's 94th-minute winner, but they were unable to build on that result and again found themselves in the bottom four following three further defeats on the bounce.

In meetings with Nantes, Nice and Lorient, Olivier Pantaloni's side conceded eight goals while failing to score, leaving them in a tough position in the fight for survival before hosting fellow strugglers Troyes in a true six-pointer last weekend.

Mama Balde opened the scoring for their opponents, who led until the hour mark, but Youcef Belaili equalised from the penalty spot before El Idrissy quickly netted the goal which turned out to be decisive 22 minutes from time, sealing his team's sixth three-point haul of the campaign.

While a victory for Auxerre did mean that L'ours remained in the bottom four, they do only trail the 16th-placed side on goal difference and Strasbourg by a single point, meaning Pantaloni's men will feel they have a good chance of jumping out of the drop zone with what would be an impressive away triumph on Sunday.

Reims Ligue 1 form:

D

W

D

W

D

W

Reims form (all competitions):

W

D

L

W

D

W

Ajaccio Ligue 1 form:

L

W

L

L

L

W

Team News

After last week's dominant display, Reims should come into Sunday's game with an unchanged starting XI, with Marshall Munetsi again set to play in a more advanced midfield role after getting on the scoresheet alongside winger Junya Ito.

The attack will again be led by Arsenal loanee Folarin Balogun, who has netted a tally of 15 Ligue 1 goals so far this season, with only Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe having scored more.

Cheick Keita should again join key man Yunis Abdelhamid in the middle of a back four, while Azor Matusiwa and Dion Lopy will line up at the base of midfield behind Munetsi.

Ajaccio should also be unchanged from their win last weekend, with Mounaim El Idrissy again set to lead the line after netting his fifth league goal of the season in the triumph over Troyes.

He will be joined up top by Romain Hamouma, while Cyrille Bayala and Youcef Belaili will look to cause further problems from the wings, with the latter leading their scoring charts having got on the scoresheet six times in the French top flight in just 13 appearances this term.

Mathieu Coutadeur and Vincent Marchetti are regulars in the engine room and will continue their partnership, while Oumar Gonzalez and Cedric Avinel will be put to the test in the middle of the defence.

Reims possible starting lineup:

Diouf; Foket, Keita, Abdelhamid, De Smet; Matusiwa, Lopy; Flips, Munetsi, Ito; Balogun

Ajaccio possible starting lineup:

Leroy; Vidal, Gonzalez, Avinel, Ismael; Bayala, Marchetti, Coutadeur, Belaili; El Idrissy, Hamouma

We say: Reims 2-0 Ajaccio

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