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Cesson are relaxed and dangerous while Pays Aix are pressured to win

The away team from Rennes are the biggest surprise of the season, winning against Montpellier and St. Raphaël and playing a draw against Chambery. Aix have 4 consecutive losses but today only winning is an option

Aix en Provence conceded 39 goals in the last round and majorly lost at PSG who played without Mikkel Hansen. However, the coach of Aix Jeremy Roussel rested some of his players and he was missing the important Luka Karabatic, Curtois and Luc Tobie and in the final part of the match he pushed some young kids into the fray so the final result of 39-30 hasn't really surprised anyone, more so because Vasilakis had 2/12 shots.

With that loss the steak of Aix came to four losses and the last three are in the league but only the failure at Dijon is a real one. Considering Dijon and Nimes are having streaks of success the situation at the bottom of the table is extremely interesting. Aix have four points, as well as Dijon and Selestat, while on the bottom there are Ivry without points and Tremblay with one point.

Therefore the importance of today's match for Aix doesn't need explanation. For them every home match against a team who are not in Top 5 is very important and in them they will seek points to remain in the league. Today's match is the start of series of matches - Tremblay, Toulouse, Selestat - which they will not be the outsiders.

 - This is a big match, a start of a long series in which we need to win at least three or four matches and the match against Cesson is one of them. We need to win at home against teams of our level. Today, winning is the only option - said goalkeeper Robin Capelle, one of the best players in the season so far and the most deserving one for the win against St. Raphael 26-25 when in the second 30 minutes he had over 50% efficiency.

Today Karabatic and Tobie are expected to return, which should additionally strengthen the defense and be a big boost.

 - Cesson are a dangerous team who made a step forward since the last season. They have an excellent start to the season with two or three individuals, including the goalkeeper Yann Genty - added coach Jeremy Roussel.

Genty is a great danger for Aix. The goalkeeper of Cesson is in excellent shape. In the four last matches he had 17, 18, 16 and 19 saves.

 - There is pressure of the result but we need to play a great match. We need to stay focused on our game and what we need to do and the rest will come around - claims Luka Karabatic.

And while they are under great pressure, Cesson are completely relaxed. The wins against Montpellier and St. Raphaël with the celebration at Nimes and a home point against Chambery brough the team with one of the smallest budgets into the top of the French league. Ahead of this match they are in the top five and they have the easier part of the fixture coming along. They play the next round at home against Dunkerque and then follow Dijon, Ivry, Tremblay, Toulouse...

 - Last year we were crushed at Aix (36-23), we weren't good but they had Nikola Karabatic. Now I hope we will use our chances although it is always complicated against Aix, in the small arena with a loud crowd - said captain Sylvain Hochet.

Although of 14 teams in the league they are second to last in conceded goals (176), with only Selestat behind them (178), it was the defense which allowed Cesson to win against Montpellier away and St. Raphaël at home. They were extremely tough against Montpellier and won a lot of balls, scoring a lot of easy goals. Against St. Raphaël they did the crucial job with Morten Olsen who had only 1/3 in play. The Briffe brothers, left and right backs, had 28 shots but scored 17 goals which is a very good efficiency for back players. With 16 saves of Genty and 4 goals by Dore and Batinovic it was enough for another pleasant surprise.

The injured left back Celica and middle back Suty were missing in that match and they will miss today's away match as well.

Statistically speaking, Cesson have the second worst defense in the league. It's not realistic, though, because they played against Montpellier, PSG, Chambery and St. Raphael, the best teams in the league. PSG scored 41 goal against them, and that's what gives them such a bad image. However, their defense is not bad at all, and they proved it when they won against Montpellier, where they had a lot of counter-offense actions based on the good defense, and again against St. Raphael, and then again against Nimes, who they left with only 22 goals on their own court. Aix from this season and the last one, when they played with Karabatic, have nothing to do with each other. They have 26-25 in two home games against the offensive St. Raphael, and 27-30 against Chambery. This game is extremely important for them, because Dijon and Nimes started winning, and Aix are going to be in the middle of the relegation battle. I can't agree with the almost 60 goals margin for this game. Aix offense is pretty barren, and Cesson's defense will be able to control it, with goalie Genty defending in top shape lately, and not being under 16 saves in the last four games.