Without a victory in 12 league games, Nantes will resume their bid for Ligue 1 survival when Montpellier HSC visit the Stade de la Beaujoire on Saturday afternoon.
Caretaker manager Pierre Aristouy led Nantes to a goalless draw at Toulouse in his first match in charge, while Montpellier snatched a late draw against Lorient last time out.
Match preview
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With three matches remaining, Nantes find themselves one point inside the Ligue 1 relegation zone, which comprises of four sides this season as the French top flight prepares for an 18-team league from the 2023-24 campaign.
The Canaries would have been safe in previous seasons, with the bottom three – Angers, Troyes and Ajaccio – already relegated to Ligue 2, but the rule change means that Nantes, Auxerre, Brest and Strasbourg are still in contention for the drop.
It is no surprise that Nantes find themselves in such a predicament, however, as they have failed to win any of their last 12 league games, taking a measly five points from a possible 36 since defeating Lorient 1-0 back in February.
Antoine Kombouare was sacked following successive 2-0 losses against Brest and Strasbourg earlier this month, promoting Pierre Aristouy to the role of interim manager, but the new boss failed to spark a revival as Nantes scraped a goalless draw with Toulouse last weekend.
Aristouy's men registered a solitary attempt on target while seeing just 28% of the ball at Stadium de Toulouse, while the hosts racked up 14 attempts, so the Canaries will need to up their game if they want to get anything from Saturday's showdown.
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Montpellier head to the Stade de la Beaujoire having taken one point from their last two outings, with a crazy 5-4 defeat at Lyon – in which they led 4-1 thanks to four goals in 15 minutes from Elye Wahi – preceding a 1-1 draw with Lorient.
In fact, La Paillade appeared to be heading for defeat on home soil last weekend, only for substitute Faitout Maouassa to score a 94th-minute equaliser and snatch a point for the hosts, keeping his side 11 points clear of the drop zone.
Although Montpellier have posted a handful of inconsistent results of late – recording two wins, two draws and three defeats across the past seven matches – Michel Der Zakarian's men have only lost three of their previous 13 league outings.
It is also worth noting that MHSC have enjoyed plenty of success on the road in recent times, holding Marseille to a 1-1 draw at the Stade Velodrome and thrashing Monaco 4-0 at the Stade Louis-II before pushing Lyon all the way.
As a result, Montpellier can play with freedom between now and the end of the campaign, having secured their top-flight status for another season, while Nantes will be edgy as they look to avoid defeat and evade relegation.
Team News
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Nantes are still without Spanish midfielder Pedro Chirivella, who has not featured since early April due to a hernia issue, so Samuel Moutoussamy and Florent Mollet will continue in the middle of the park.
That will allow wing-backs Quentin Merlin and Fabien Centonze to get forward, with Nicolas Pallois, Andrei Girotto and Jean-Charles Castelletto expected to make up the back three.
Top scorer Ludovic Blas, who has chalked up 12 goals and seven assists in all competitions this term, will continue to operate behind Marcus Coco and Moses Simon in attack.
Toulouse, on the other hand, look set to be without Wahbi Khazri this weekend as the experience forward continues to recover from a thigh injury.
Twenty-one-year-old midfielder Leo Leroy is also expected to be absent from the matchday squad, having missed last weekend's 1-1 draw with Lorient, so Jordan Ferri will continue to anchor the midfield.
Elye Wahi will continue to lead the line for MHSC, with Arnaud Nordin and Stephy Mavididi occupying the wide attacking roles, while Christopher Jullien and Boubakar Kouyate are expected to resume their partnership at centre-back.
Nantes possible starting lineup:
Lafont; Castelletto, Girotto, Pallois; Centonze, Mollet, Moutoussamy, Merlin; Blas; Simon, Coco
Montpellier HSC possible starting lineup:
Lecomte; Mbiayi, Jullien, Kouyate, Sylla; Chotard, Ferri, Fayad; Nordin, Wahi, Mavididi
We say: Nantes 0-1 Montpellier HSC
The shackles are off for Montpellier as they look to finish the season on a high, so we expect the visitors to extend Nantes' winless run in 13 matches by notching a narrow victory at the Stade de la Beaujoire, piling more pressure on the relegation-threatened Canaries.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Ben Morris
