The last 32 of the 2023-24 Coupe de France pits in-form sides Sochaux and Reims against each other at Stade Auguste Bonal on Sunday evening.

The hosts have won seven of their last eight matches, while their visitors head into this weekend's contest on a run of three straight victories.

Match preview

Stade de Reims ran out comfortable 3-0 winners against lower league Dinan-Lehon FC when the teams locked horns at Stade du Clos Gastel two Sundays ago.

A first-half double from Mamadou Diakhon put Will Still's men in the driving seat after which Mohamed Daramy sealed the deal 10 minutes from time.

Les Rouges et Blancs followed up their cup triumph over a 3-1 win over Monaco to move up to sixth place in the Ligue 1 table, four points adrift of the top four.

Awaiting them next is the challenge of an opposing outfit who have been beaten in each of the last three editions of this fixture by a combined score of 10-2.

Having netted six times in their last two matches away from home, Sunday's visitors will be aiming to run riot in front of goal on their travels once again.

Sochaux showed great powers of recovery to keep their Coupe de France dream alive with a 2-1 win at the expense of FC Lorient on January 6.

After going behind to Aurelien Pelon's strike, Oswald Tanchot's men got back on level terms through Alex Daho midway through the second half before Issouf Macalou completed the turnaround with a last-gasp penalty.

Thanks to Malcolm Viltard's second goal of the season, Les Lionceaux claimed a 1-0 victory over Nimes in their subsequent outing to move up to fifth place in the French National League.

Unbeaten in their last eight matches on home turf in which they have picked up seven wins, Sunday's hosts set out to keep the juggernaut rolling in front of their fans.

Team News

Reims' Yunis Abdelhamid, Ibrahim Diakite, Oumar Diakite, Keito Nakamura and Amir Richardson are all on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations and the Asian Cup.

Maxime Busi also misses out for the away side through a torn hamstring, while Marshall Munetsi remains sidelined with an ankle problem.

Midfielder Malcolm Viltard found the back on his return to action for Sochaux and will be expected to retain his place in the starting lineup.

Twenty-seven-year-old Julien Dacosta is a huge doubt for the hosts here as he continues his recovery from a knock which saw him miss the win over Nimes last time out.

Sochaux possible starting lineup:
Patouillet; Ackra, Vitelli, Gomis, Silva; Fatar, Perreira, Fontaine, Daho; Zohi, Michel

Reims possible starting lineup:
Olliero; De Smet, Agbadou, Okumu, Busi; Teuma, Matusiwa, Khadra; Diakhon, Daramy, Salama

We say: Sochaux 1-2 Reims

Sochaux's form heading into this one will give them huge belief that they can spring an upset, but Reims boast the superior squad, and we heavily fancy them to carry the day in what should be a keenly-contested affair.


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