Nantes vs Toulouse prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2023-08-12 13:00.
Final-day survivors in 2022/23’s Ligue 1 climax, Nantes prepare for new manager Pierre Aristouy’s first full season in charge with some trepidation. Only one new signing has arrived for a fee so far, while the departure of Ludovic Blas only exacerbates fears of another struggle for top-flight survival, given his double-figure league hauls in two of the previous three campaigns.
A further red flag is that the Canaries’ pre-season has been poor too (W1, D1, L3), with every defeat coming by a multi-goal margin. On a similar note, you would have to go back to October 2022 to find the last time Nantes won a home league game via something more comfortable than a 1-0 scoreline, which hints at a tight affair in this curtain raiser.
In a cruel twist of fate, Nantes will first face none other than Coupe de France conquerors Toulouse, in this fixture’s maiden opening day H2H. Le Téfécé’s 5-1 cup final win might well have provided the appetite for an attack-minded transfer window to date, with TFC’s three biggest summer acquisitions so far all set to feature mainly in the final third.
The priciest of that trio is €3m speedy winger Ibrahim Cissoko, who moved from Dutch side NEC in the summer, and he is expected to play a significant part if Toulouse are to finish inside Ligue 1’s top half for the first time in a decade. Early momentum could make all the difference there, but with Toulouse failing to win in any of their last five Ligue 1 openers (D3, L2), not everything is working in their favour here.
Key battle: €5.75m signing Mostafa Mohamed now has a permanent place on Nantes’ roster after his 11-goal competitive haul last term, nine of which arrived after half-time. He’ll be particularly eager to win his duels against Toulouse defender Logan Costa, whose brace inside ten minutes during the Coupe de France final sent them soaring to glory.
Hot stat: The home side on the day has kept a first-half clean sheet in four of the previous five Ligue 1 H2Hs.