Toulouse will aim to arrest a potential slide down the Ligue 1 table on Sunday, when they travel to take on basement side Angers.
Three consecutive defeats have seen the visitors drop to 12th spot in the French top flight, while their hosts have also lost their last three games and find themselves rooted to the foot of the division, 10 points behind 19th-placed Troyes and 12 points adrift of safety.
Match preview
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After comfortably avoiding the drop in Ligue 1 last season, it has certainly been a dismal campaign for Angers, who find themselves quickly sliding towards relegation.
In their 26 games thus far, Les Noirs et Blancs have managed just 10 points, having conceded a league-high tally of 58 goals while only netting 21 at the other end of the pitch.
Those 10 points include just two victories, which came back-to-back in September, only to be followed by 13 straight top-flight defeats before they, at least, managed to play out draws with Lorient and Auxerre.
The results did not provide any valuable foundations for Angers, though, and following those, they now head into the weekend on the back of three more defeats, firstly losing to Strasbourg and Lyon, before Abdel Bouhazama's departure was followed by a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Montpellier HSC, in which Nabil Bentaleb was sent off on the hour mark with their hosts already 4-0 up.
Now 10 points behind their closest competitor at the bottom end of the division and 12 points adrift of safety, having not won a league game in almost six months, Les Noirs et Blancs look all but condemned to relegation this time around but will aim to rebuild some confidence with just a third league win of the season this weekend.
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They meet a Toulouse side who will hope to bounce back from a dip in form, having now dropped to 12th in the mid-table battle following a run of defeats.
Les Violets secured a return to Ligue 1 last season, and after a tough start to the campaign, they drastically improved their standing with a strong run after the turn of the year, picking up four victories from a five-match span and drawing the other to move onto 29 points from 21 league outings.
That run was halted by a narrow defeat away at league leaders Paris Saint-Germain, and they did initially bounce back by beating fifth-placed Rennes 3-1, but Philippe Montanier's men now head into the weekend on the back of three straight defeats in the top flight, firstly falling to Marseille and Reims before they were, at least, able to seal progression to the Coupe de France semi-finals with a 6-1 thrashing of Rodez thanks to a Thijs Dallinga brace and goals from Zakaria Aboukhlal, Branco van den Boomen, Fares Chaibi and Gabriel Suazo.
Hoping to take momentum from that progression and climb back towards the top half of the Ligue 1 table, Les Violets returned to action at home to mid-table rivals Clermont on Sunday, but they fell just short with Saif-Eddine Khaoui's goal 14 minutes from time making the only difference, and seeing Les Lanciers leapfrog Toulouse as a result.
Having now dropped back to 12th spot following that result, with a nine-point gap to 10th-placed Lyon and just a two-point lead over 13th-placed Montpellier, Montanier's side will be desperate to begin looking back up the division once again rather than down it, and they will see Sunday as a good opportunity to put their tough run behind them and make a return to winning ways.
Team News
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Angers will come into the contest without key midfielder Nabil Bentaleb, who will serve a suspension after he was shown a red card in their 5-0 defeat to Montpellier last time out.
In his absence, Pierrick Capelle may come into the midfield alongside Himad Abdelli and Batista Mendy, while defender Ousmane Camara should be replaced by Miha Blazic from the outset.
At the top end of the pitch, goals are in short supply, particularly following the January departure of Sofiane Boufal, and Brighton & Hove Albion loanee Abdallah Sima will continue to play an important role on the right wing, with Amine Salama likely operating on the other flank and Ibrahima Niane and Adrien Hunou fighting to play down the middle from the start.
Toulouse will continue to line up in a 4-2-3-1 shape, with Thijs Dallinga bound to again lead the line having netted 13 goals so far this season including nine in Ligue 1.
He will be flanked by Fares Chaibi and fellow danger man Zakaria Aboukhlal, who has contributed six goals and five assists in his 26 league appearances so far this term.
Elsewhere, Stijn Spierings is a mainstay in the engine room and will again join Branco van den Boomen at the base of midfield, while Rasmus Nicolaisen and Anthony Rouault should again partner up in the middle of the back four.
Angers possible starting lineup:
Bernardoni; Valery, Blazic, Hountondji, Chetti; Capelle, Mendy, Abdelli; Sima, Niane, Salama
Toulouse possible starting lineup:
Dupe; Desler, Nicolaisen, Rouault, Suazo; Spierings, Van Den Boomen; Aboukhlal, Dejaegere, Chaibi; Dallinga
We say: Angers 0-2 Toulouse
Although Toulouse are not at their best at present, they will be desperate to return to winning ways and will see this weekend as a great chance to do so.
With the hosts lacking any confidence and Les Violets boasting more quality, we envisage the visitors coming out on top on Sunday.
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Sam Varley
