Nantes vs Freiburg prediction: EUROPE: Europa League – Group Stage betting tips on match 2022-10-12 16:45.
After two successive away defeats in the UEFA Europa League (UEL), Nantes will undoubtedly be glad to return home where they have collected their only European points this term, beating Olympiacos 2-1. A 3-0 derby defeat to Rennes at the weekend in Ligue 1 was hardly an ideal warm up for this crunch clash and prompted boss Antoine Kombouaré to admit he was “ashamed”, with that loss, and it now means Nantes welcome Freiburg on the back of a six-match winless run (D1, L5).
Admittedly, all five of those defeats came away from home, but without a win in five attempts against German opposition (D1, L4), there appear few signs that an improvement is on the horizon for Nantes. Even a goal would be a small improvement for Nantes at the moment, as their solitary strike across their last five games (D1, L4) actually came thanks to the opposition putting the ball in their own net!
Considering Freiburg have only conceded one goal in the UEL group stages so far, they probably don’t serve as an ideal opponent for Nantes. There’s little chance of Freiburg showing any pity here either considering victory will secure their safe passage to the UEL knockout stages, and as they arrive on the back of a ten-match unbeaten run (W7, D3), you can see why they’re being tipped to secure an important win.
A late goal preserved that unbeaten run at the weekend with a 2-2 draw against Hertha Berlin, though their underwhelming performance in that could have been explained by boss Christian Streich’s absence from the dugout with a bout of COVID-19. It remains to be seen whether Streich will return to the touchline against Nantes, but irrespective of his position for the game, he will hope to see his Freiburg side tip the balance on a perfectly split European away record (W3, D3, L3).
Players to watch: Moses Simon was the last Nantes player to score a goal back in September and his last two strikes have been the game’s last. Freiburg’s Vincenzo Grifo netted the last goal in the reverse H2H, but his three goals prior to that were all game openers.
Hot stat: Nantes are unbeaten in their previous eight home games in the UEFA Cup/UEL (W7, D1).