Brest vs Reims Prediction: Les Pirates ready to set sail to Champions League

Life after Will Still for Stade Reims begins with a tough trip to Stade Brestois 29 on Friday night as the sides meet in Ligue 1 at the Stade Francis-Le Ble.

Kicking off at 20:00, you can catch all the action on TNT Sports 3 and build up to the contest by checking out my Brest vs Reims prediction below.

Brest's pursuit of a top-three finish, which would see them directly qualify for next season's Champions League group stage, has faltered recently. Les Pirates have won just one of their last four games, collecting just four points, and have seen AS Monaco surge past them into second place.

Eric Roy's side are now third but only two points ahead of Lille OSC with two rounds remaining of the season, while OGC Nice are six points behind with a game in hand.

Reims, meanwhile, have three games still to play after not featuring last weekend. In the time since their last match, however - a 4-1 defeat to Clermont Foot on April 28 - Les Rouges et Blancs have parted ways with former boss Still.

The 31-year-old failed to win any of his last five games in charge and won't be overseeing the side's final two of the season.

Team News

Bradley Locko misses out for Brest as he serves a one-match ban for an accumulation of yellow cards, while Pierre Lees-Melou and Romain Del Castillo were both substituted before half-time in Saturday's goalless draw with FC Nantes and are doubts for Friday.

Reims have a suspended player of their own after Thibault De Smet was red-carded against Clermont last time out.

Valentin Atangana Edoa, Maxime Busi and Joseph Okumu are all likely to be sidelined through injury, and the trio could be joined by Mohamed Daramy, who hasn't played since scoring in Denmark's 2-0 win over the Faroe Islands on March 26.

Match Odds

Brest are 7/10 to win at home for the first time in over a month, giving them an implied win probability of 58.8%, while a Reims victory can be backed at 18/5 (21.7%).

The draw, meanwhile, is available at 3/1, both teams to score at 4/6, and over 2.5 goals at 4/6.

Brest to win & under 3.5 goals @ 7/5

Backing Brest to win and under 3.5 goals may be a curious selection considering that, in their last five games, they have won 5-4, lost 4-3, and won 4-3.

However, for the most part, Brest have been a solid outfit this season, evidenced in the fact that despite the glut of goals in their games recently, only five clubs have been involved in more Ligue 1 games with under 3.5 goals than Les Pirates (24/32).

Two of those high-scoring matches in the past month came away from home, and their 4-3 win over Metz on April 7 is the only match out of nine at the Stade Francis-Le Ble this calendar year that has seen at least three goals scored.

Reims, meanwhile, have seen 22 of their 31 league games finish with three or fewer goals scored. Two of the nine that have gone over have arrived in their last two away outings, but they had a player sent off in both of those matches.

Brest have only conceded twice or more at home on four occasions this season, and I don't see Reims, who haven't scored multiple goals in any of their last five games, making it five on Friday.

Brest to win to nil @ 15/8

Taking things slightly further here, Brest should fancy their chances of shutting out their opponents completely.

As previously mentioned, it's been tough going for Les Pirates recently, who shipped four, two, three and three to Rennes, Monaco, Lyon and Metz respectively in April.

However, a clean sheet in a goalless draw with Nantes last week was their 14th of the season in Ligue 1 - only Nice (16) and Lille (15) have kept more. They've been particularly solid at home, recording nine of their shutouts there, including five this calendar year.

Reims have scored a single goal in each of their last three games but are now managerless with very little to play for.

Keito Nakamura has been their leading light in recent weeks, netting two of their last three goals - keeping him quiet on Friday could go a long way to helping Brest keep a clean sheet on their way to a win.

Check out the rest of our Football Betting Tips here.