Toulouse vs Nantes prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2023-05-13 13:00.
A rematch of the Coupe de France final appears the perfect opportunity for Toulouse to mathematically secure their Ligue 1 survival by beating Nantes here. With just four rounds remaining, Les Violets sit ten points clear of the drop zone in their first season back in the top-flight, while their 5-1 win in the cup final has earned them a route into European competition next season!
Coach Philippe Montanier will be keen to end a five-match losing streak on their own patch in the league, with three of those defeats seeing his side fail to score. Only four sides in the division have conceded more goals at home than Toulouse’s 26, while their total of two clean sheets on home soil is better than only soon-to-be-relegated Troyes.
Defeat in the cup final, followed by consecutive losses in Ligue 1 proved to be the final straw for Nantes boss Antoine KombouarĂ© who was sacked in midweek. His replacement is under-19 coach Pierre Aristouy, and he is left with the unenviable job of trying to keep Les Canaris in the top-flight, an increasingly uphill battle given their 11-match winless streak in Ligue 1 (D4, L7) – a run bookended by a 2-0 defeat to fellow strugglers Strasbourg.
Nantes hit the road in desperate need of victory given they sit two points adrift of safety with just four rounds remaining. Confidence is unlikely to be high as they’re winless in five away matches (D1, L4), a sequence that’s seen them concede 12 goals, suggesting their defence is far from air-tight. That’s placing extra pressure on the forward line, but as Nantes have failed to score in 13 league matches this season, there’s very little reason to suggest they’ll surge to safety here.
Players to watch: Toulouse’s Zakaria Aboukhlal has netted both of his side’s last two league goals, while he also scored in both previous H2H meetings with Nantes this season (W1, L1). The visitors could be reliant on Ludovic Blas to do the damage late as he’s seen ten of his 12 strikes this campaign arrive after half-time.
Hot stat: Only Ajaccio has scored fewer first half goals than Nantes (11), subsequently contributing to them leading just four of their 34 league games at half-time.