After suffering a heavy defeat in their last outing, Clermont will be looking for a positive response when they play host to Lorient on Sunday.
The visitors, meanwhile, also suffered a demoralising defeat in their most recent encounter, and they head into Sunday's contest in the Ligue 1 relegation playoff spot.
Match preview
© Reuters
After collecting four points from their two matches prior to last weekend's encounter against Lille, Les Lanciers would have entered that contest in confident mood.
However, they were brought crashing down to earth as goals from Jonathan Bamba, Jonathan David, Zeki Celik and Edon Zhegrova helped Lille cruise to a 4-0 victory.
That result leaves Clermont just four points clear of their opponents, and one win from their previous eight home games will not offer much encouragement to Sunday's hosts.
In fact, Les Lanciers have won just three home league matches all season with their 13 home encounters yielding just 14 points.
Pascal Gastien will hope that the joint third-worst defence in Ligue 1 can improve in the final 11 league matches, as Clermont look to avoid an immediate return to Ligue 2.
© Reuters
Lorient are in a more precarious position than their hosts, with Sunday's visitors entering the weekend in the relegation playoff spot and with just two points separating them from the bottom two.
Les Merlus were humbled in their last outing with a Terem Moffi effort the only positive in a disappointing 4-1 defeat at home to Lyon.
An away fixture awaits Lorient on Sunday, which will not be welcomed by a side who have the worst away record in Ligue 1 after winning just one away match all season.
They did, however, pick up that first win on their most recent away trip when they managed to claim a narrow 1-0 victory over Brest.
Christophe Pelissier's side may have collected just eight points on the road this season, but an improvement on their travels in the final furlong of the campaign could prove pivotal in their fight for survival.
- W
- W
- L
- W
- D
- L
- L
- W
- D
- L
- W
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Florent Ogier missed last weekend's contest after testing positive for COVID-19 and the defender is also expected to miss Sunday's encounter.
The hosts are still without the top scorer Mohamed Bayo, who misses out with a knee injury.
After receiving a red card in the defeat to Lille, Salis Abdul Samed will be replaced in midfield by Yohann Magnin.
Lorient are without the services of Stephane Diarra and Fabien Lemoine, who are suffering with thigh and calf injuries respectively.
Enzo Le Fee could come into the starting lineup to replace Laurent Abergel, who will serve a one-match suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards.
However, Lorient will welcome Julien Laporte back from suspension and the 28-year-old will return to the starting lineup to partner Moritz Jenz in the centre of defence.
Clermont possible starting lineup:
Djoco; Zedadka, Seidu, Hountondji, N'Simba; Magnin, Gastien; Rashani, Berthomier, Da Cunha; Kyei
Lorient possible starting lineup:
Dreyer; Mendes, Laporte, Jenz, Le Goff; Lauriente, Monconduit, Innocent, Le Fee, Ouattara; Kone
We say: Clermont 2-2 Lorient
The reverse fixture between the two sides ended in a 1-1 draw, and with Clermont not wanting to drop points and Lorient struggling to win on the road, we think Sunday's contest will end all square.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Clermont win with a probability of 56.3%. A draw had a probability of 24.7% and a win for Lorient had a probability of 18.95%.
The most likely scoreline for a Clermont win was 1-0 with a probability of 14.06%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.4%) and 2-1 (9.39%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.58%), while for a Lorient win it was 0-1 (7.14%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 2.9% likelihood.
