Lorient vs Nantes prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2024-02-23 16:00.
Three successive league wins have lifted strugglers Lorient out of the Ligue 1 relegation spots ahead of this matchday. That trio of successes was one more than the Merlucciidaes had managed across their prior 19 league outings combined (W2, D7, L10), with the third of those wins coming in a 3-1 victory over Strasbourg at the weekend as they recorded consecutive victories on the road for the first time since October 2022.
For this latest clash, Lorient will return home to Stade du Moustoir, a venue where they’ve taken the majority of their French top-flight points this term (13). That should raise the home side’s confidence, especially as they look to claim just a second H2H win against Nantes across the pair’s last 15 competitive meetings (D3, L11).
In this relegation ‘six-pointer’, Nantes will be desperate to improve their league form that has seen them return just one win across their last eight league outings (D1, L6), including a routine 2-0 defeat to PSG last time out. Subsequently, the Canaries begin this round sat in the relegation play-off spot and on the same points as hosts Lorient, with the exact same goal difference to boot.
So far this campaign, Nantes have lost 12 of their 22 Ligue 1 matches, the highest total they’ve suffered at this stage of a Ligue 1 season across their club history. With alarm bells firmly ringing, a return to the road could potentially aid their chances of success here as they’ve taken four points from their last two road trips, one point more than across their prior six away league outings combined.
Players to watch: After joining Lorient in the winter, Mohamed Bamba has struck five goals across four Ligue 1 appearances and could become the first player since Josip Skoblar in 1966/67 to score in each of his first five Ligue 1 matches. As for Nantes, they could look to Florent Mollet for inspiration – he’s hit four league strikes this season, including one in the reverse H2H.
Hot stat: Ahead of the round, no side has conceded more corners on average per Ligue 1 match this season than Lorient (5.77).