Nimes will be looking to halt a three-game losing streak when they host Angers in Ligue 1 on Sunday.
Jerome Arpinon's side fell into the bottom three following a 1-0 defeat to Metz last weekend, while Angers were comfortably beaten 3-0 by Nice and slipped to 11th.
Match preview
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Having been saved from competing in last season's relegation playoffs by the decision to curtail the campaign in the wake of coronavirus, Nimes look set for another year of struggle despite Arpinon replacing Bernard Blaquart as manager in the summer.
Their loss to Metz came even though Les Grenats played the second half with 10 men following Matthieu Udol's red card just before the break.
It was the third game in a row that Nimes drew a blank in front of goal as they continue to look blunt going forward.
Only bottom of the table Dijon have scored fewer goals than Nimes' tally of nine, and nearly half of those came in their 4-0 win over Brest on the opening weekend of the season.
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Angers are only slightly more effective in that department with 10 goals so far, while their top scorer is centre-back Ismael Traore.
The more pressing concern for manager Stephane Moulin is at the back, as Les Scoistes have conceded 19 times in nine Ligue 1 games – the second most in the division.
Defeat to Nice last weekend was the third time already this season that they have been beaten by at least three goals, following a 4-1 loss to Montpellier and a 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain.
However there is promise in this Angers side, as shown in their last away game when they came from behind to win 2-1 against Rennes, who are playing Champions League football this season.
In what could be considered a good omen for Nimes, both of the games between these two clubs last season finished 1-0 to the home side.
Nimes Ligue 1 form: DDWLLL
Angers Ligue 1 form: LWLDWL
Team News
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Nimes centre-back Loic Landre will come back into the starting lineup after serving a two match suspension.
Jerome Arpinon is hoping that top scorer Zinedine Ferhat is fit to play some part in the game after missing the last three matches through injury.
Andres Cubas could also be available after being absent recently, but Arpinon will not take a risk on the fitness of left-back Birger Meling.
Angers could recall striker Stephane Bahoken to the starting lineup after he was surprisingly dropped to the bench against Nice.
Stephane Moulin has a decision to make on the right wing, where summer signing Jimmy Cabot has started the last two games but been substituted off for Sada Thioub both times.
Nimes possible starting lineup:
Reynet; Burner, Briancon, Landre, Paquiez; Ripart, Deaux, Cubas, Eliasson; Denkey, Kone
Angers possible starting lineup:
Bernardoni; Manceau, Traore, Thomas, Doumbia; Amadou, Mangani; Cabot, Fulgini, Boufal; Bahoken
We say: Nimes 0-1 Angers
Both sides will feel they have a chance of winning this one but could play quite conservative so we expect a low-scoring affair decided by a single goal, most likely in Angers' favour.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data
Olly Allen
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Nimes win with a probability of 38.44%. A win for Angers had a probability of 32.64% and a draw had a probability of 28.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Nimes win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.68%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (7.79%) and 2-0 (7.41%). The likeliest Angers win was 0-1 (11.42%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.34%). The actual scoreline of 1-5 was predicted with a 0.1% likelihood.
