Reims head into their second home fixture of 2022 without a goal in their previous three Ligue 1 encounters as they host Bordeaux on Sunday at Stade Auguste-Delaune.
The club from the Coronation City are winless in their previous four matches played in all competitions, losing in a shootout to Bastia at the Coupe de France last weekend, while Les Girondins got themselves out of the relegation zone, narrowly defeating Strasbourg 4-3.
Match preview
A city famous for its champagne have not had much to celebrate of late as Oscar Garcia, and his side have failed to win a domestic encounter since December 11 when they defeated Saint-Etienne (2-0).
In their recent match against the league leaders PSG, Les rouges et blancs, put together a good opening half, pressuring the Parisians and rarely losing the ball, but a late goal from Marco Verratti before the interval seemed to shatter their confidence as they were handled with ease in the second half, falling 4-0.
This team do not have a ton of attacking depth, scoring the fourth-fewest goals (22) in the league, and they appear to be heavily dependent on a local teenager to try and win them some matches.
It is challenging to earn victories when you are unable to get yourself into enough good shooting positions, and while they do a decent job when it comes to shutting down opposing attacks, firing three shots or fewer on target like they have done in their last three league games will not help you win many matches.
They will want to avoid being shut out for a fourth straight time domestically, something which has not happened to this team since October 2015.
Reims are particularly sharp defensively when playing in front of their home fans, and they seem to be able to cover open spaces effectively, as only 11 of their 27 goals conceded were at Stade Auguste-Delaune.
It has been a frustrating season for Bordeaux, but they entered the international break positively, ending a four-match losing run in all competitions.
As sharp as they were in the final third versus Strasbourg, scoring on four of their six efforts on target, Vladimir Petkovic and his team still have a lot of work to do on the defensive side of things, conceding nine goals in their previous two games.
The 53 goals that they have given up so far in this campaign is the highest tally for any Ligue 1 side at this stage of a domestic season since Nice conceded the same amount in 1978-79.
On Sunday, Les Girondins have an opportunity to do something that they have yet to do this season, win consecutive games in the league.
Even though consistency has been an issue for them, they should be feeling pretty good about their chances versus Reims, a team that they have not lost to in their last three visits to the champagne region, while they won the opening fixture between these sides on Halloween, thanks to a late penalty.
Bordeaux are only a point above Metz, and they have been especially poor on the road this season, conceding three goals or more in a single match six times, with the worst of those defeats coming recently at Rennes (6-0).
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Team News
Dion Lopy will not be on the field for this game as the Reims midfielder received another caution in their fixture versus PSG, Thomas Foket, Valon Berisha and Marshall Munetsi are still dealing with muscle problems and Arber Zeneli is out until May with an ACL injury.
The last goal scored by this team in a league game came from their teenage sensation Hugo Ekitike, who also notched the only strike for them against Bastia at the Coupe de France last weekend, while Andreaw Gravillon's miss from the penalty spot in that fixture eliminated Les rouges et blancs from that competition.
Reims were reasonably quiet during the winter transfer window, loaning Moustapha Mbow to Nimes, while goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic is among the league leaders in clean sheets with seven, three behind Pau Lopez for the top spot.
In their previous encounter, Bordeaux striker Hwang Ui-jo became the second player in the league to pick up a hat-trick this season, as he now leads the team with nine goals domestically, one more than Alberth Elis, while Yacine Adli is tied for third in Ligue 1 with six assists, alongside Moses Simon and Teji Savanier, with Remi Oudin chipping in with five himself.
Last week the team saw Samuel Kalu sign with Watford in the English Premier League, while bringing over centre-back Marcelo on a free transfer themselves, releasing former captain Laurent Koscielny and adding Joshua Guilavogui, Danylo Ihnatenko, plus Anel Ahmedhodzic on loan from Wolfsburg, Shakhtar Donetsk and Malmo respectively, and they moved Otavio to Atletico Madrid on a loan deal, while doing the same with Josh Maja, who will feature at Stoke City for the remainder of this season.
Tom Lacoux will be suspended following his yellow card versus Strasbourg, Benoit Costil has a calf strain, Amadou Traore has a thigh issue and Jimmy Briand is dealing with a foot injury, while Jean Onana is still in his native Cameroon as the national team take on Burkina Faso in the third-place playoff at the Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday.
Reims possible starting lineup:
Rajkovic; Konan, Abdelhamid, Faes, Gravillon, Foket; Locko, Cassama, Kebbal, Mbuku; Ekitike
Bordeaux possible starting lineup:
Poussin; Rode Gregersen, Medioub, Mexer, Mangas; Guilavogui, Fransergio; Adli, Dilrosun, Elis; Hwang
We say: Reims 1-1 Bordeaux
Despite scoring four times in their previous encounter, Bordeaux might find it a lot more challenging to penetrate a team like Reims, who are not nearly as aggressive as Strasbourg, and do not allow a ton of space in behind them.
As poor as Les Girondins have been defensively this season, aside from Ekitike, Les rouges et blancs have had a hard time creating chances in the final third, let alone being able to put those opportunities away.
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