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After a draw game with PSG Zvizej and Morency are back for Toulouse

Both teams had great games in the first round. Toulouse was particularly impressive as they played a draw with PSG and its great Mikkel Hansen. For Dunkerque, this is a game before a big test against Kielce in the Champions League

Gerard and Anntonel are the goalkeeping duet from the French league runner up Dunkerque. When they have a bad game, and together they had 10/36, and Dunkerque wins comfortably on a away game in spite of that (30-26 at Tremblay), it is clearly a sign of good play. They won with a four goal difference and there was nothing dramatic at the end of the game. It should have been 6 or 7 goals of difference because in the last ten minutes they had 28-21. The middle wings Lamon (4/6) and Guillard (2/3) did a good job and coach Cazal had a motivated team. Eleven different players made goals from shots and only Grocaut could not put his name on the scoreboard but he is a defense specialist after all.

The shot width of the team roster is important because Dunkerque awaits the Champions League and it is clear that Cazal will have to be careful about his players' play minutes, especially when it comes to the most important players like Nagy, Hansen, Rambo or Soudry and Mokrani. 

- The defense took care of a lot of burden in this game but I think that the offense played well, too. We scored 20 goals and we know it is hard to come to number 30 that everyone speaks of. This confirms some good things we did in the preparation phase but this is just the first game - said defensive player Mickael Grocaut.

- First game away and at Tremblay. That is never a simple feat. We haven't won here in a few years so this is a good performance for us. 

For Toulouse the first home game is also the ideal game for a strong Kielce as they will face them in the Champions League on a long trip to Poland. 

- In my opinion, Toulouse should have won against PSG. They have some strong new arrivals and look like a solid team. We have to take this game seriously to keep the momentum from the first round. The championship is full of even teams and there will be many close matches and ever more surprises - Grocaut said before today's game.

During the last week Jerome Fernandez said that he knows how to play against Dunkerque, but his national team colleague playing for the opposing team, Guillame Joli, who plays right wing position doesn't think much of that statement: 

- We already know that a big game is ahead of us and we don't need to read Fernandez's statement to find that out. Last season they took a point from us here. 

Coach Patrick Cazal played the Tremblay game without his left wing back Siakam who will be out for a while. 

Toulouse comes with a lot of self-confidence they got from a great game against the favourite for the league title. Besides, coach Joel Da Silva gets his two important players back in rotation. One is Cyril Morency and the other is Miha Zvizej who was out because of flue. 

- The truth is we have a complicated duel ahead of us, but believe me, the experience we have from last season helps us a lot - said coach Da Silva. 

Toulouse managed a 26-26 score here but now this is a new team, much stronger than last season. Andelkovic is back as a middle winger and the experienced Srbian was playing phenomenally as he led his team against the Paris defense. Motivated Fernandez is on the middle left wing and Montoro (2/6), who is still trying to find his game, is on the right. It is important to stress out that Toulouse made their advantage in the second half without Fernandez on the left, Chella played instead of him (2/2). Even though they played with their second team pick, their play level did not drop. Defender Van Cauwenberghe played a great game, pushed Vori to receiving a red card, made 4 out of 6 shots and got some penalty shots. Today he will split the play time with Zvizej. 

Nemanja Ilic a new player on the left wing scored 7 out of 10. If Perez de Vargas had saved a few more shots in the first half (Pardin was much better in the second), PSG would have had even a worse final score. There are a lot of things the Toulouse coach can take from their opening match. Now he just needs to make it happen again. It's as simple as that...

The game Toulouse played in the first round against PSG simply forces me to make this bet. It ended 29-29, even though they were the better team and they deserved to win. The recovery of Daniel Andjelovic is a big plus for the team, and it seems their other reinforcements were good choices - Ilic as left back, Montoro as right back. In addition, the Spaniard played a bad game then and I expect him to be much better today. Fernandez is still playing like a young boy, and not a man nearing his 40s. Their flow is great, they are always looking to pass the ball around, they have great cooperation with their pivot and Miha Zvizej, the man who didn't play against PSG, is returning to this position. When they were fighting to avoid relegation, they played 26-26 here. I think they can give the runner-ups a run for their money. And if the goalkeepers are better than in the game against PSG.. Dunkerque have also left a good impression at Tremblay, they played much better than in the preparations. Cazal's team is well-organized and they haven't made any changes during the summer, except bringing in the middle back Guillard. But this is the first home game, and they have an away game in Kielce this weekend which means Cazal will have to rotate more than last season, which means the difference won't matter. I think we are in for a very interesting game in Northern France.