I opposed Beziers at home to Grenoble last week..................
Beziers have collected 15 of their 18 points on the road and have real issues against teams who sit back and force them to make the running. Even in tier 3 last season , their promotion campaign, they only won 7 games at home and took 11 starts to win #3 and the stronger Ligue 2 teams have quickly spotted this weakness. Grenoble also came up from National last season and with the best defensive record, they did not concede in two starts ( four points ) against the host and have adapted really well to life at the higher level and currently sit 5th.
Ahead of a recent 2-0 home win over Ajaccio I wrote ..........
Grenoble are this season's surprise package and the 3-0 away win at Orleans last week, who were on fire ahead of that, has rightly got a lot of attention, the points took them up to 5th just five off the lead and with Metz (1st) and Lens (3rd) up next it is clear how valuable the win would be today. They would not be the first club by any means to manage back to back promotions from National to Ligue 1 . They played really well at Orleans, creating two beautiful goals , looked very together as a group, went over and shook hands with all their supporters (there were not that many) who had made the 10 hour round trip and they have a real chance to put some pressure on the top four with three points today. Grenoble had some issues with goals early, they did not score that many in their 17-18 promotion season, then had a few defensive injuries to deal with, but it feels like it is coming together now and that this game has been priced on reputation more than anything we have seen all sesaon on the field of play .
They have subsequently won 3-0 away in the cup (Beziers lost to a 5th division team on the same day) and drawn with Metz and Lens the two biggest budget teams in L2 and promotion favourites. They feel they should have taken more from the two (mainly Metz) and spoke about being a little disappointed in "dropping" four points, when most outsiders would have seen it very differently (two earned) and that says much about their ambitions and should ensure they press for the win this evening.Beziers were completely outplayed by Clermont on Friday and said they felt "happy" to have only conceded two goals and there we have it, with those two comments, exactly where these two clubs stand in terms of ambition. BTW, Beziers were hugely impressed with Clermont and couldn't quite believe how good they were.
Grenoble won that 3-0 and Beziers were lucky to score nil ! They did not have an attempt on target, Grenoble had 10 and missed three big chances and on the back of that showing at Clermont, I don't think it is just good enough to continue to say that Beziers are better on the road, it is just as likely that teams have more data on them now, know what to expect and how they will set up and have some answers and, not much by way of Plan B for the newly promoted team.
What they did do was hold out for 38 and 51 minutes in those two games and with Brest not having scored a home goal all season inside the first 15 minutes and have a first half goal difference here of -2 (6-8) but an incredible one of +13 (13-0 !) after the break, there feels every reason to believe that we will get really good value about the highflying host "in play". On the road Beziers are +3 (goal difference ) through the opening 45 minutes -3 in the second half.
1.75 units Brest at half time at the first handicap line quoted at odds of 2.20 + as long as they are not already leading by more than a single goal and, as always , that it is still 11 v 11.
Brest : Larsonneur, Léon - Bernard, Belaud, Chardonnet, Henry, Weber - Belkebla, Jacob, Diallo, Ayasse, Court, Faussurier, N'Goma, Autret - Charbonnier, Butin, Mayi.
Béziers : Marillat, Viot - Kouagba, Lingani, Mostefa, Rherras, Savane, Sidibé, Taillan - Aabid, Cidinho, Etou, Gbegnon, Nouri - Beusnard, Kanté, Rabillard, Soukouna.
Good Luck.
