Nantes vs Marseille prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2023-08-31 19:00.
After racing into a 2-0 lead within 15 minutes against Monaco and then extending that advantage to 3-1 early in the second half, Nantes looked on their way to a first league win of the season. Alas, they eventually had to settle for an eventual 3-3 draw, stretching their winless start to three games (D1, L2). More worryingly for Nantes, the scoreline arguably flattered them based on their lowly xG (0.91) and the fact they were dominated in just about every statistical metric.
Under-pressure Canaries boss Pierre Aristouy felt the love of the home faithful last time out as they revealed a huge banner in support of him, despite his rotten recent record in the hot seat (W1, D2, L4). His position hasn’t been helped by the likes of defender Jean-Charles Casteletto trying to force an exit, although the hope is that he can help Nantes improve on their joint-worst league start in a decade after scoring their second goal last weekend.
Notching a first win against unbeaten Ligue 1 pacesetters Marseille (W2, D1) will be no mean feat for the hosts considering the Olympians have won each of the last four H2H meetings. Just one more victory would set the outright longest Ligue 1 winning streak in this H2H, a seemingly likely outcome given they’ve lost just once as pre-match favourites in away league action since the start of last season (W10, D4, L1).
Nothing but victory will be good enough for Marseille here, as new authoritative manager Marcelino has already threatened to “fire” the lazy players amongst the group in their hunt to better two second-placed finishes across the last five seasons. Strong starts are synonymous with Marseille, who haven’t actually lost across the opening seven rounds in either of their last two campaigns, and they even went unbeaten until round ten last season!
Players to watch: Mostafa Mohamed has already repaid part of his transfer fee following his permanent transfer to Nantes with three goals in as many league games this season, yet he has now failed to win any of his last five scoring appearances (D3, L2). Trying to outdo him will be Vitinha, the talented Portuguese forward who has scored Marseille’s second goal beyond the 70th minute in two of their three league games.
Hot streak: Nantes haven’t won a single league game as pre-match outsiders at home since the start of last season (D6, L6).