CFA side SAS Epinal play host to Ligue 2 outfit Niort at Le Stade de la Colombiere. Officially there are two divisions between these sides, but in all reality the gap might not be as wide as that. Epinal were one of the six unfortunate teams relegated from the National Division massacre last season but have responded well since going down. They currently sit top of the CFA Groupe B table and have won 9/13 fixtures so far this season. They’ve remained unbeaten at home winning 7 out of 8 times and are definitely on course for an immediate return to the 3rd tier of French football. They also have some cup previous, knocking out titleholders Lyon and then Nantes, both on penalties, in the 2013 edition, before being beaten in the last 16 by Lens.
SAS Epinal
To reach this stage of the Coupe de France, Epinal have come through four rounds. They have yet to concede a single goal in the competition and included in their run of results was a remarkable 14-0 (fourteen) thrashing against lower league side Reding, who also had their goalkeeper sent off. They clearly aren’t a side short of goals and have netted a whopping 34 times in 13 CFA games this season – that’s an average of nearly 3 per match. At the top of their goalscoring charts is striker Hassan Benkajjane (11) and attacking midfielder Romain Chouleur (7). Clearly these guys are key players for Epinal and worth keeping an eye on in this fixture.
Their opponents in this Coupe de France fixture are Ligue 2 outfit Niort. The visitors are more renowned for their solid defensive nature rather than producing free-flowing football. Les Chamois are just a pretty unremarkable middle-of-the-road 2nd-tier outfit who never catch the eye too much. Currently they sit in 13th spot, although fairly comfortably clear of the relegation zone. Coach Pascal Gastien has done a good job with this team, although he’s known to be fairly negative and all too often settles for draws.
Team news is fairly favourable for both sides approaching this contest. For Epinal, in-form striker Yassin Chadili (5 goals in last 6 games) is out for a month injured, but they aren’t expected to miss anyone else. Niort have centre back Frederic Bong suspended, but they have loads of cover in defence and he shouldn’t be missed too much. They will however be without leading goalscorer Emiliano Sala who is on leave back in his home country of Argentina. Worth keeping an eye on is young striker Kevin Rocheteau who was linked with Bordeaux back in the summer transfer window, he’s an exciting talent. Niort are surprisingly an odds-on shot with the bookies to win this match, but it’s definitely a banana skin fixture for them away against a confident side who haven’t lost at home since March. I’d say there’s plenty of potential for a shock occurring in this tie.