Bordeaux will endeavour to bounce back from their crushing defeat to Monaco when they welcome Montpellier HSC to the Stade Matmut-Atlantique for Saturday's Ligue 1 encounter.
In contrast, the visitors managed to end their winless run in gameweek nine as they overcame an out-of-sorts Saint-Etienne side by a goal to nil.
Match preview
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It was nothing short of a horror show for Bordeaux on Halloween weekend, with the normally reliable Girondins defence breached at will by Monaco, who put four past Jean-Louis Gasset's men without reply.
Each member of the Monegasques attacking trio found the back of the net on the day, with Gelson Martins and Wissam Ben Yedder chalking up one each while Kevin Volland bagged a brace, and three of Monaco's four goals came within three minutes of each other at the Stade Louis-II on Sunday.
Three certainly seems to be the theme for Bordeaux at the moment - Les Girondins have now registered three wins, three draws and three losses from their opening nine matches - and Gasset's men also face a trio of challenging fixtures against Montpellier, Paris Saint-Germain and Rennes before the month ends.
Bordeaux can no longer boast the best defensive record in the league, although nine goals conceded is the lowest of the bottom 13 sides in the French top flight, and the hosts may feel optimistic about their chances of keeping a seventh clean sheet against a Montpellier side who have struggled to find their shooting boots in recent weeks.
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Montpellier and Saint-Etienne went into their meeting both looking to arrest their concerning slides in Ligue 1, and it was Michel Der Zakarian's men who ultimately came up trumps to condemn Saint-Etienne to their fifth defeat on the bounce.
A Stephy Mavididi goal was enough for La Paillade to register their first win since September - ending a run of four games without victory for Der Zakarian's men - who now find themselves back in the top half with 14 points to show from nine matches in the 2020-21 campaign.
This weekend's visitors will certainly welcome relatively friendly fixtures with Strasbourg and Lorient after the international break, and Montpellier have every right to firmly set their sights on a European berth so long as they can carry the momentum forward from their victory over Saint-Etienne.
Furthermore, Montpellier's two recent defeats to Nimes and Reims both came on their own turf - Der Zakarian's men stretched their unbeaten away run to three matches with their win last Sunday - and Bordeaux have also failed to beat Montpellier at the Matmut-Atlantique since 2017.
Bordeaux Ligue 1 form: LDWLWL
Montpellier HSC Ligue 1 form: WDLDLW
Team News
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Gasset opted to switch up his system for the trip to Bordeaux - playing a 4-3-3 with Hatem Ben Arfa at the forefront of the Girondins attack - but that move did not pay off and Gasset could revert back to a 4-2-3-1 here.
Both recognised strikers in Jimmy Briand and Josh Maja were only named amongst the substitutes at the Stade Louis-II but Gasset is sure to start one of the duo here, while Nicolas de Preville will also hope to earn a recall to the first XI.
Mexer and Samuel Kalu are the only two injury concerns with hamstring problems, and while the pair have now made their returns to the training pitch, Saturday's game will likely come too soon for both players.
Meanwhile, Montpellier are able to welcome Teji Savanier and Arnaud Souquet back from suspensions, and the duo are expected to come back in for Florent Mollet and Junior Sambia respectively.
Der Zakarian moved away from his traditional three-man central defence against Saint-Etienne due to the loss of Hilton, with the 43-year-old now serving the second of a two-game ban this weekend, and Damien Le Tallec is also out with a suspension of his own.
Pedro Mendes was forced off in the weekend victory but Der Zakarian confirmed his injury is not serious, while Mihailo Ristic is also set to return from a thigh problem, but Dimitry Bertaud will continue in goal as Jonas Omlin remains in the treatment room.
Bordeaux possible starting lineup:
Costil; Sabaly, Pablo, Koscielny, Benito; Otavio, Basic; Oudin, Ben Arfa, De Preville; Maja
Montpellier HSC possible starting lineup:
Bertaud; Souquet, Congre, Mendes, Oyongo; Ferri, Chotard, Savanier; Laborde, Delort, Mavididi
We say: Bordeaux 1-1 Montpellier HSC
Monaco proved last week that Bordeaux's defence is not as impenetrable as it seems, which should give Montpellier an injection of confidence before this weekend's showdown. The visitors have been in underwhelming form themselves but will be able to welcome a couple of starters back to the fold for the trip to Bordeaux, who are yet to concede a goal on their own turf this season.
We reckon Montpellier will be the ones to end Bordeaux's remarkable clean sheet record at the Matmut Atlantique but are ultimately backing this tie to end all square.
