A spot in the last 16 of the Coupe de France will be on the line this weekend when Niort welcome Auxerre to Stade Rene Gaillard on Sunday.
In the previous round, Les Chamois scored three times in the second half to defeat Granville 3-0, while AJA got past Dunkerque in a nervy penalty shootout.
Match preview
Following a solid run of results to end 2022, unbeaten in their final six fixtures in all competitions, the Niort season has hit a snag so far this year, with just one point in their last two Ligue 2 affairs.
Rui Almeida's men lost a competitive fixture at home this week, 1-0 versus Saint-Etienne, the first defeat for them at Stade Rene Gaillard since mid-October.
In three matches so far in this competition, Niort have not conceded a goal in normal time, surviving a scare in their second match against Bergerac Perigord when they barely advanced, 5-4 on penalties.
They have yet to score a first half goal this year, though they have not conceded one in the opening 45 minutes since drawing Nimes 1-1 in domestic action last November.
You have to go back to the 2016-17 campaign for the last time this club made it into the last 16 of this tournament, when they won their first four Coupe de France encounters on the road before conceding twice in the final 12 minutes plus stoppage time, as they were ousted 2-0 by Paris Saint-Germain.
Les Chamois will be very familiar with their weekend opponent, as before this season they had faced Auxerre at least twice each campaign, though they have not squared off against them in this tournament since eliminating AJA 5-4 on penalties in the third round of the 2006-07 season.
Halfway through their first top flight campaign in a decade, Auxerre are in danger of being back in the second tier, currently second from the bottom, two points below the relegation line.
AJA have lost all three of their domestic affairs this year by a combined score of 7-0, most recently falling 1-0 at Lens last Saturday, marking their longest goalless run in the top flight, since 2009 (four).
In their previous Coupe de France encounter, Christophe Pelissier saw his side fall behind after five minutes before scoring twice and then conceding an equaliser with just over 20 minutes remaining.
The four-time Coupe de France winners have lost 12 of their 19 domestic fixtures this season and have looked incredibly shaky along the backline, conceding at least five goals in three Ligue 1 fixtures.
Auxerre have not won a Coupe de France encounter within 90 minutes on the road since handling US La Charite 4-0 in the opening round back in 2019-20.
In their years competing in Ligue 2, AJA have had their way with Niort, winning the previous five matchups against them by a combined score of 18-1.
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Team News
Junior Olaitan notched a brace for Niort in their round of 64 victory over Granville, with the other strike coming courtesy of Yanis Merdji, while Jean Louchet collected a clean sheet.
Bilal Boutobba, who leads them with three goals in Ligue 2, is still searching for his first at this competition, as are Amadou Sagna and Moataz Zemzemi.
They made just one change to their starting 11 versus Saint-Etienne as Olaitan took the place of Sagna, while Kevin Rocheteau, who had the only goal in a 1-0 win over Merignac-Arlac in an earlier Coupe de France encounter, came on as a substitute for Merdji.
Rayan Raveloson scored twice for Auxerre in their previous cup victory over Dunkerque, though it was Donovan Leon who was the hero, stopping Leverton Pierre from the spot, while Birama Toure put the side from Burgundy through, converting the decisive penalty kick.
Gauthier Hein has three goals in his career versus Niort, scoring in their previous visit to Stade Rene Gaillard last season, while he and Alexandre Coeff each found the back of the net when they won 4-0 on the road against them, while Hamza Sakhi has been involved in four of the last five goals scored on Les Chamois.
Kays Ruiz-Atil is not expected to feature for a few more weeks due to an illness, while Hein, Gaetan Perrin, Mathias Autret, and Youssouf M'Changama were all inserted in the starting 11 versus Lens after each beginning on the substitutes bench when they dropped a 5-0 decision to Toulouse.
Niort possible starting lineup:
Michel; Moutachy, M'Bondo, Kilama, Durivaux; Olaitan, Benchamma, Zemzemi, Sagna; Boutobba, Merdji
Auxerre possible starting lineup:
Leon; I. Toure, Jubal, Jeanvier, Coeff; Hein, B. Toure, Raveloson; Sakhi; Da Costa, Niang
We say: Niort 0-2 Auxerre
Auxerre have been a thorn in the side of Niort for years, and even though AJA are not in great form at the moment domestically, they have numerous quality individuals who have had success against Les Chamois, and we expect the visitors will be able to shut them down once again on Sunday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
