Tuesday, 22 January 2019

Coupe de France, round of 32

Le Stadium, Toulouse

 Toulouse FC - Stade de Reims - Kick-off at 18:30 CET

With just three points separating Reims (11th) from Toulouse (13th) on the Ligue 1 Conforama table, Tuesday's cup tie should be an evenly matched contest for a place in the Coupe de France round of 16.

Toulouse have an edge in that they prevailed 1-0 in Reims when the sides met in early December, and are also coming off a league win after Yaya Sanogo scored the only goal in their 1-0 win in Nîmes at the weekend.

However, Reims - held to a 1-1 draw by Nice thanks to Rémi Walter's ultra-late equaliser form the spot (90'+9) on Saturday - have the edge in form. The Champagne side are unbeaten in six matches in all competitions - including the 2-0 win over Domino's Ligue side RC Lens in the Coupe de France round of 64 - while the TFC have lost twice in their last six.

All out

Nonetheless, Alain Casanova's side undid Ligue 1 Conforama rivals Nice 4-1 in their last cup outing and the coach - whose side have not won at home in the league since August 25 - will be going all out.

"I'm not looking to rotate my squad," said the Toulouse boss, for whom cup 'keeper Mauro Goicoechea will line up between the sticks. "We absolutely want to beat Reims and we'll filed the strongest side we can, taking fatigue into account. It will be the same side we would field for a Ligue 1 match."

Stade Louis-Michel, Sète

FC Sète - LOSC  - Kick-off at 20:55 CET

Meanwhile LOSC, who consolidated second place on the Ligue 1 Conforama table with a win over Amiens at the weekend, travel to the Montpellier area to take on fourth-division side FC Sète.

Coach Christophe Galtier is tipped to go with a near-full strength line-up, with Nicolas Pépé on the right flank of a 4-2-3-1 and Loïc Rémy to step in for Rafael Leao in the lone striker's role.

Stade Louis II, Monaco

AS Monaco - FC Metz  - Kick-off at 20:55 CET

AS Monaco, fresh from a 5-1 hammering at home to Strasbourg in the league, will be out to continue their strong cup form - they are through to the Coupe de la Ligue BKT semi-finals - by booking a place in the Coupe de France last 16 with a win at home to FC Metz.

Burdened by a astonishingly long injury list that includes the likes of Stevan jovetic, Andrea Raggi and Nacer Chadli, coach Thierry Henry will have Croatia 'keeper Daniel Subasic - who has made just two appearances (one start) this season after reaching the World Cup final - back in action.

Stade Marcel-Picot, Nancy

AS Nancy Lorraine - EA Guingamp  - Kick-off at 18:30 CET

Last but not least, EA Guingamp travel across France to face AS Nancy Lorraine, looking to bounce back from their catastrophic 9-0 league hiding away to Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday. The morale-sapping loss came hot on the heels of Guingamp's knocking five-time reigning champs PSG out of the Coupe de la Ligue BKT in the quarters.

Coach Jocelyn Gourvennec will be hoping his side's reputation as a cup team - he steered them to victory in the 2013-14 edition of the Coupe de France - will hold them in good stead against Nancy as, doubtless with an eye on Saturday's league clash at home to Reims, he rotates his squad for Tuesday night.