Sochaux's wings can clip Genk before the tired legs show

Can Sochaux turn all that wing play into the points their European campaign is crying out for?

The noise will be up before kick-off on Wednesday night. A Champions League home tie, a French club with a point to prove on the continental stage, and a Belgian visitor whose recent form in the middle of the park has gone flat. Sochaux come into this one off the back of holding Bayern to a stalemate earlier this month, and the sense around the place is that these are the nights that decide whether a group campaign becomes a story or a shrug.

Mathieu Atangana is the man to watch on the left. His last five games read 6.8, 7.3, 6.5, 6.4 and then a 9.4 that must have had the stands on their feet. One goal, two assists, five clear-cut chances made — he is the outlet Sochaux keep finding. On the other flank, Guillaume Bruyere has been the finisher of the pair: three goals in five, ratings climbing to a 9.0. The homecoming forward, back in France since the summer, looks ready for a night like this.

Sochaux are expected to keep the 4-2-3-1 that has started their last twelve, with Christian Renucci behind Miguel Ángel Ureña, Jesús Fuentes, Diego and Tomás Samios, Josep Lluis Cornellà and Thodoros Tsonis holding, Roee Alon between the lines and Vincent Nurudeen through the middle. But the legs are a worry: Alon, Samios and Nurudeen all come in tired. And with Jesús Reyes and Brian out, the bench offers little relief.

Genk's threat comes through Camille Adam on the right, though his numbers are modest — one assist, three clear-cut chances made. The real problem for the visitors is in midfield, where Herbert Lambrecht and Wilson Ochieng have both been below their best. Sochaux's expected front four will fancy that.

The duel that matters: Atangana against the full-back detailed to stop him. The crowd will tell you quickly enough how that one is going.