Nantes vs Toulouse prediction: FRANCE: Coupe de France betting tips on match 2023-04-28 19:00.
Franceās oldest national football tournament concludes with a final that few people would have expected at the start of the season, as current holders Nantes aim to defend their crown against Toulouse at the Stade de France in the 106th edition of the Coupe de France (CDF). The Canaries are presented with a golden opportunity to repeat their feat of 2000, when they successfully defended their 1999 CDF title, meaning Nantes have won their last three finals in this competition, all by slender one-goal margins.
Four-time CDF champions Nantes will hope their poor league form (D4, L5) doesnāt transfer into the cup, as they could yet become only the fifth club in history to win the CDF and also be relegated to the second division in the same season. Nantes boss Antoine KombouarĆ© now faces his former employers hoping that his previous trophy-winning experience can be an asset to his team here, having lifted the CDF trophy twice both as a player and as a coach.
The scene is set for Toulouseās first-ever CDF final appearance, although it should be noted that the inaugural version of Toulouse FC won the trophy back in 1957 before being dissolved in 1967 due to financial problems. It is now time for the Haute-Garonne-based side to perhaps add silverware to a trophy cabinet that has been empty since the club was reformed in 1970, and they can go seemingly all out for this final after passing the 40-point mark in the league last weekend, a points total so often linked to securing top-flight status for the next season.
Courtesy of a 15-point gap to the Ligue 1 top-five, winning the trophy is Toulouseās only path to qualify for a first European competition since 2009/10, with a UEFA Europa League place up for grabs for the champion. Coach Philippe Montanier said he wanted to ābring the cup back to the Capitoleā, but itās unlikely to be an easy feat for him to achieve, as this duel between two former Nantes players has often gone the way of KombouarĆ© with Montanier losing six of his ten managerial H2Hs against the Canaries boss (W2, D2).
Players to watch: Nantesā striker Ludovic Blas has led his team to victory āto nilā with his last five goalscoring CDF appearances, including in the final last season. He could be upstaged early by Zakaria Aboukhlal, who has scored the gameās opener (own goals excluded) in Toulouseās previous four CDF outings.
Hot stat: Just two of the previous nine CDF finals have witnessed both sides score within 90 minutes.