Sitting three points clear of the relegation zone after the 3:0 defeat at Velorome, Brest cannot afford to relax just yet and they will have to try and get at least one point against Lyon. Les Gones remained in third place despite the embarrassing defeat to Auxerre, but Claude Puel’s side will have to show a massive improvement if they are to remain in pole position for the final Champions League berth.

Brest in problems

The newly promoted side enjoyed a great start to the Ligue 1 campaign and up until recently they have managed to avoid the relegation struggle, but the run of 7 defeats on 11 games saw them slip into the danger zone. Alex Dupont’s side have since shown some improvement, as they beat Rennes at home before recording four straight draws, while they could do nothing to avoid defeat to Marseille in midweek. While Brest are usually a tough nut to crack, especially at home, they have some problems in the scoring department, and have now gone three games without scoring a single goal. Seeing that the hosts will be fully focused on stopping Lyon from scoring, we should see a very tight game, with chances few and far between. Brest would probably be more than happy with one point from this clash, meaning they are likely to adopt a cautious approach.

Omar Daf and Ahmed Kantari have picked up serious injuries at the Velodrome and they are out for the season, but Nolan Roux should recover from a knee injury and is expected in the starting line-up.

Another embarrassment for Lyon

There is absolutely no doubt that everybody at Lyon will be looking to quickly forget this season, even if they do manage to clinch Champions League qualification. Claude Puel’s side have simply made too many slip-ups, especially on the travels and I am not really sure they deserve to be playing in Europe next season. The absence of Yoann Gourcuff and Lisandro Lopez is clearly having a very negative effect on team’s build-up play as well as the scoring department, as witnessed by the fact that Lyon lost last three away games, while failing to score a single goal in the process. The 4:0 defeat to struggling Auxerre was especially disappointing, and being very low on confidence Les Gones will struggle to carve out any openings against defence-minded Brest side. They desperately need a victory in order to keep their Champions League hopes alive, but that is easier said than done.

Verdict

Both sides have major problems in the scoring department, so everything suggests we will see a low-scoring game. Brest will be focused on keeping the opposition strikers at bay, which shouldn’t be too difficult considering that Lyon are completely out of form and very low on confidence. Therefore, it is almost impossible to see both sides score in this match.

Our prediction: Both teams to score – no

Odds: 1.95 (19/20)

Bookmaker: Bodog