Nantes vs Brest

Stade de la Beaujoire is the venue as Nantes and Brest go head-to-head in their one-off Coupe de France last-16 tie.

Nantes strolled to a 4-2 home victory over Lorient last time out, ending a run of two consecutive Ligue 1 matches without winning (D1, L1). However, it means that they’ve now conceded precisely twice in their last two outings after keeping back-to-back clean sheets beforehand. Despite playing against lower-league sides, ‘Les Canaris’ have kept a blank sheet in both previous Coupe de France rounds, going past Sochaux via penalties before cruising past Vitre 2-0 last time out. At home, Antoine Kombouare’s men have been too hot to handle in the front third lately, scoring 2+ goals in three of their last four home fixtures in all competitions (W3, D1). Moreover, they’ve won both previous Ligue 1 H2Hs at home by an identical 3-1 scoreline.

Meanwhile, Brest pulled off a stunning 2-0 home triumph over reigning Ligue 1 champions Lille last time out after losing back-to-back league games by 2+ goals ‘to nil’ beforehand. However, the visitors have failed to win any of their three previous away matches in all competitions (D2, L1 – 90mins only), scoring just once in that period. Breaking the deadlock could be of the utmost importance here, given that Brest’s last four competitive fixtures have seen the winner on the day keep a clean sheet and score at least twice. Unfortunately, ‘Les Pirates’ will have to defy the recent H2H record if they are to overcome this round, having lost each of their last three Ligue 1 meetings with Nantes by at least a two-goal margin despite scoring on each occasion.