Click here for today’s sports betting tips from our expert analysts!
Auxerre are struggling down towards the bottom end of Ligue 1 ahead of this weekend as they now take on an impressive and high-flying Stade de Reims side in this one.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Sunday 20th October, 2024 - UK – 4:00pm / US ET – 11:00am / US PT – 8:00am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Not televised / US – beIN Sports
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – Ligue 1 pass / US – beIN Sports
AUXERRE PREVIEW: STRUGGLING AUXERRE
Following promotion to the top-flight last season under the management of Christophe Pelissier, Auxerre have started the 2024/25 Ligue 1 season with two victories and five defeats in their opening seven matches.
The home team come into this one on the back of a very frustrating and disappointing result against fellow newly-promoted Saint-Etienne a couple of weeks ago with Georgia international Zuriko Davitashvili scoring a hat-trick in that match.
REIMS PREVIEW: REIMS ON THE RUN
Last season, English-Belgian coach Will Still was tasked with leading Stade de Reims into the European spots but they eventually faded into the middle-of-the-table and he departed before the end of the season to be replaced by Slovenian coach Luka Elsner.
Elsner’s first game in charge of Reims was a 2-0 loss to Lille in which they were down to ten men in the opening 20 minutes. However, since then, Reims have enjoyed a six-match unbeaten run of form with four victories and two draws in that time.
AUXERRE TEAM NEWS: OWUSU SUSPENSION
Auxerre have a few injury issues for this one such as Paul Joly, Ousoumane Camara and Lasso Coulibaly, whilst Elisha Owusu is missing through suspension for the hosts.
PREDICTED XI (3-4-2-1): Leon; Diomande, Osho, Akpa; Hoever, Perrin, Danois, Mensah; Onaiwu, Traore; Sinayoko
UNAVAILABLE: Joly (Injured), Camara (Injured), Coulibaly (Injured), Owusu (Suspended)
QUESTIONABLE:
REIMS TEAM NEWS: COUPLE OF SUSPENSIONS
Stade de Reims are dealing with a couple of suspensions this weekend as both Oumar Diakite and Yaya Fofana are unavailable with injuries to Reda Khadra and Mohamed Daramy, too.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Diouf; Buta, Kipre, Agbadou, Sangui; Munetsi, Atangana; Ito, Fofana, Nakamura; Teuma
UNAVAILABLE: Diakite (Suspended), Kone (Injured), Fofana (Suspended), Khadra (Injured), Daramy (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
AUXERRE VS REIMS PREDICTION
Auxerre have shown themselves to be a competitive outfit with genuine attacking potential this season. For example, their seven matches so far this season have consisted of 24 goals and they have scored nine in seven. However, they now face a Reims side that look genuinely very impressive and already an improvement on Will Still’s side from last season. An entertaining Reims victory seems a good bet for this one.
AUXERRE VS REIMS TIP: REIMS TO WIN & OVER 2.5 GOALS