Wednesday, 20 February 2019

Girondins de Bordeaux - EA Guingamp 

Safety is quickly fading out of sight for Jocelyn Gourvennec's Guingamp side, and their rescheduled Week 23 clash in Bordeaux is the perfect - or perhaps last - opportunity to turn things around before it's too late.

Although they won through to the Coupe de la Ligue BKT final in late January, Ligue 1 Conforama's bottom side have lost all three of their league outings since they were dismantled 9-0 at the Parc des Princes in Week 21. However, Gourvennec feels his side have turned a corner despite a 2-1 loss in Lyon last weekend.

Gourvennec: 'Be even better'

"We mixed it with Lyon and deserved to get a point. Now we need to convert that into results. We're ready, which wasn't the case before Christmas. There were some issues that needed to be taken care of," explained the EAG boss, now in his second stint at the club after being brought back to replace Antoine Kombouaré in December. "When I was working as a consultant for Canal+, I saw plenty of Bordeaux matches. I think this will be an open match and we will need to be more effective than we have been of late. We need to keep playing the way we have been lately. But we need to be even better at it."

Gourvennec is tipped to go with an attacking 4-3-3 with Marcus Coco, Nolan Roux and club top scorer Marcus Thuram across the front line, while Bordeaux boss Eric Bédouet is likely to field a 4-2-3-1 with the experienced Jimmy Briand - Ligue 1 Conforama's most prolific currently active French striker, who scored his 90th top-flight goal in the 2-1 Garonne derby win over Toulouse last weekend - in the lone striker's role.

Bédouet: 'Roll on'

The win snapped a four-match skid in all competitions - a run that included a Coupe de la Ligue BKT semi-final elimination at the hands of Strasbourg as well as defeats to heavyweights Marseille and PSG - and now Les Girondins will have their hearts set on pushing back in to the top half of the table.

"Since the winter break, we have been second-guessing ourselves a bit because wen now the end of the season is approaching. When you have an experienced team, it's easier to handle, but that's not our case," explained Bordeaux coach Eric Bédouet. "Still, we won against Toulouse and we need to roll on. We know it will be tough, but it will be tough through to the end of the season. There are no gimme matches in this league."

Probable teams

Girondins de Bordeaux: Costil (c); Palencia, Koundé, Jovanovic, Poundjé; Otavio, Tchouaméni; Karamoh, Adli, Kamano; Briand

EA Guingamp: Caillard; Che.Traoré, Sorbon (c); Eboa Eboa, Rebocho; Deaux, Phiri, Blas; Coco, Roux, M. Thuram