Friday evening brings us an all-Ligue 1 clash in the Coupe de France between Nantes and Brest at the Stade de la Beaujoire as the two French top flight teams bid for a place in the quarter-finals of the domestic cup competition.
Nantes have produced some encouraging results of late as Friday’s hosts have suffered just the one defeat out of their last eight matches in all competitions which came in the form of a 2-1 loss away from home at high-flying Nice in Ligue 1 but having also picked up six wins as well, Nantes will be in confident mood.
𝑬𝒎𝒊, 𝒂̀ 𝒋𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒆𝒖𝒓𝒔... 🕊💛 pic.twitter.com/q2WRfGvk6k— FC Nantes (@FCNantes) January 21, 2022
𝑬𝒎𝒊, 𝒂̀ 𝒋𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒔 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒆𝒖𝒓𝒔... 🕊💛 pic.twitter.com/q2WRfGvk6k
Victories in the domestic top flight with Ligue 1 wins against Lorient, Lens (home and away) and Saint Etienne have been boosted by wins in the earlier rounds of this season’s Coupe de France over Sochaux (on penalties) and Vitre respectively.
Last season, Nantes were dumped out of the Coupe de France in the round of 64 so the hosts have improved this time around and an even bigger prize could be on offer if they beat Brest.
Onto Brest and the visitors returned to winning ways on the weekend with a solid 2-0 home win against Lille as they avoided a third defeat on the trot in Ligue 1 following previous losses to Nice and PSG respectively.
The bigger picture though has seen Brest produce some consistent displays as they’ve lost just three out of their last 15 matches in all competitions which includes an earlier heavy 4-0 loss at home to Montpellier in Ligue 1.
However, nine wins within these last 15 matches overall should also give Brest plenty of confidence ahead of this upcoming cup-tie at the Stade de la Beaujoire and the visitors have reached this stage of this season’s cup competition thanks to wins in the earlier rounds against Dinan Lehon (on penalties) and a 3-0 home win against Bordeaux.
Brest managed to reach the round of 32 in last season’s Coupe de France before coming up against PSG whom they lost 3-0 against last March, so they too will be bidding to go a couple of steps better this time around as they eye off a possible place in the quarter-finals.
Brest’s results away from home in the Coupe de France have been inconsistent but both Nantes and Brest should score in this cup-tie.