In the final game of the league season, Stade Laval will hope to climb out of the Ligue 2 relegation zone on Friday, when they travel to take on Amiens.
The visitors have kept their survival hopes alive with three wins from their last four outings and are only behind 16th-placed Rodez on goal difference heading into the last day.
Match preview
Amiens head into the final day of the Ligue 2 season on the back of a mixed campaign, having occupied a spot in the top six at the halfway stage, only to quickly drop down the table in recent months.
In their 16 league outings since the beginning of February, Les Licornes have managed just four victories and 14 points, with Philippe Hinschberger sacked in early April following three consecutive defeats, and after Patrice Descamps kicked off his tenure with a 1-0 victory over Nimes, they would go three more matches without picking up another win.
That wait would end with another narrow triumph in a home contest against Sochaux at the start of May, as George Ilenikhena netted the only goal of the game, before they suffered back-to-back defeats at the hands of Dijon and Caen and most recently travelled to Quevilly in their aim to bounce back and arrest their disappointing run prior to the end of the term.
Les Licornes went into the interval a goal down, but Papiss Cisse would draw them level and Antoine Leautey put them ahead, before Cisse hit his second of the game in the dying minutes to wrap up his side's 13th win of the second-tier campaign and take their tally to 47 points, three more than they managed last term.
Now sitting 12th with one game to go, Descamps's side will aim to end the season on a relative high with a victory to hit the 50-point mark and stand a chance of leapfrogging Quevilly and moving into 11th spot.
Their visitors, meanwhile, travel into the contest with far more to play for as they look to jump out of the bottom four and preserve their Ligue 2 status after winning promotion from the third tier last time around.
Following a tricky season on the whole and a run of seven straight defeats between late February and mid-April, Les Tango sat on just 31 points from 31 games, but they have since kept their survival hopes alive with four wins from their last six attempts.
Olivier Frapolli's side arrested that losing run with a 2-1 beating of Sochaux, and after falling to a defeat away at Guingamp, before bouncing back and gaining ground in the fight for survival with consecutive 2-1 home triumphs over Bastia and Saint-Etienne in early May, as Simon Elisor netted a first-half brace in the former and the opener in the latter while Antonin Bobichon restored their lead and sealed the three-point haul.
With that briefly putting them in a more enviable position in their bid to finish outside of the drop zone, Les Tango were then hit by a 3-0 thrashing at Bordeaux, but they would again bounce back and stay in the fight last time out, handing Nimes a 2-0 defeat thanks to first-half goals from Elisor and Zakaria Naidji.
Such a result saw Frapolli's men move level on points with 16th-placed Rodez and remain one behind Pau, Annecy and Valenciennes, all three of whom kept themselves adrift with victories in their own games last Friday, and with four teams within touching distance, they will hope to build on their improvement and end with a victory which would likely see them climb out of the bottom four and avoid relegation, provided one of the four sides above them slip up.
Team News
Amiens could deploy an unchanged starting XI on the final day after their 3-1 victory last time out, with Papiss Cisse and Antoine Leautey bound to again lead the line after hitting the goals.
The former tops their scoring charts with nine league goals and 12 in all competitions this term, while Leautey has contributed four goals and six assists in France's second tier.
In a relatively cautious 3-5-2 setup, Mathis Lachuer, Jeremy Gelin and Abdourahmane Barry will likely feature in the engine room while Formose Mendy, Nicholas Opoku and Mamadou Fofana should again line up in a back three.
Laval may also opt to come into Friday's meeting unchanged after their vital win last Friday, and Simon Elisor will lead the line with confidence having taken his tally to eight league goals for the club since arriving on loan in January with six in the last six outings.
He will have support from winger Zakaria Naidji, who has found the net seven times in Ligue 1 this term, while Julien Maggiotti is another goal threat from midfield but has only appeared off the bench in their last two matches after returning from a long-term injury layoff.
After seeing out a clean sheet in the Nimes triumph, Marvin Baudry, Yohan Tavares and Bryan Goncalves should again line up in the middle of a back five in front of goalkeeper Alexis Sauvage.
Amiens possible starting lineup:
Gurtner; Mendy, Opoku, Fofana; Assogba, Lachuer, Gelin, Barry, Gomis; Cisse, Leautey
Laval possible starting lineup:
Sauvage; Sylla, Baudry, Tavares, Goncalves, Seidou; Naidji, Adeoti, Roye, Bobichon; Elisor
We say: Amiens 1-2 Laval
Although Amiens will be pleased after returning to winning ways last time out, it is Laval who come into the game with lots to play for, and given their recent improvement and the need for a victory to stand a good chance of survival, we anticipate Les Tango coming out on top on their travels.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Sam Varley
