Nantes are back home on Sunday, searching for their first victory in Ligue 1 at Stade de la Beaujoire since New Year's Day when they host Lorient, who have not won a domestic encounter on the road since the start of January.
In midweek, La Maison Jaune squeaked past Angers in round of 16 action in the Coupe de France on penalties, while Les Merlus bowed out of that competition, losing in a penalty shootout versus Lens.
Match preview
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They have been cutting it close in recent outings, but Antoine Kombouare has seen his side get the job done, levelling their Coupe de France fixture with Angers in the 87th minute and scoring twice in the second half to defeat Ajaccio in league play last weekend (2-0).
With a victory on Wednesday, they extended their unbeaten run on the road to seven matches in all competitions, but at home, it has not been so smooth, with Nantes scoring just a single goal in their last three domestic affairs.
Should they fail to find the back of the net at Stade de la Beaujoire on Sunday, it would be the first time since August-September 2016 that this club had gone goalless in three successive home fixtures in the top flight.
If there is a team they would be confident about playing on home soil, Lorient would be near the top of that list, with Les Canaris losing only one of their previous 10 Ligue 1 encounters against them.
Sunday will be the final match for them before they battle Juventus next week in a Europa League round of 16 clash, as it will be a busy month for the club with no more than four days rest between a league or cup game from now until March 5.
The five wins that they have accumulated after 22 domestic affairs this season is four fewer than what they had at this point of the previous campaign, but two more than La Maison Jaune managed in 2020-21.
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Les Merlus fought hard in their Coupe de France game on Thursday but ultimately failed to hold their nerve in the shootout, missing their first and fourth spot-kicks as they remain winless in February.
Now the focus for them shifts back to the league, where Regis Le Bris has his group within four points of Rennes and a spot in the Europa Conference League next season.
Stade Rennais are the only team currently above Lorient that Les Merlus have beaten in a domestic fixture away from home this season, as this team have conceded seven goals in their previous two road matches in Ligue 1.
After winning eight of their first 10 domestic fixtures this season, Lorient have cooled off a little with just two victories in their last 12 Ligue 1 affairs.
They have scored in every one of their league matches as the visiting team this season but have also conceded in all but two of those outings.
A victory this weekend would mark the first time Les Merlus will have won consecutive matches versus Nantes since capturing three straight games against them from August 2006 to October 2008.
Team News
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Nicolas Pallois is expected to be back by the middle of this month from a sprained knee, Quentin Merlin should return to the Nantes lineup next month from his groin strain and Moses Simon is still recovering from a thigh injury.
Florent Mollet kept the reigning Coupe de France champions in that competition, as his goal forced extra-time and then penalties on Wednesday, where Remy Descamps stopped the opening Angers spot kick, with the second hitting the post, while Andy Delort, Mostafa Mohamed, Mollet and Joao Victor each converted their penalties, giving Nantes a 4-1 win.
La Maison Jaune have only scored once at home in this competition all year, when a 74th-minute strike from Marcus Coco gave them a 1-0 win over Auxerre in a game where Alban Lafont collected his fourth clean sheet, though the Canaris captain has picked up four more in league play since then.
Laurent Abergel remains a doubt for Lorient this weekend due to a sore groin, Julien Laporte has a strained knee and Theo Le Bris is nursing a thigh injury.
Enzo Le Fee put home an 84th-minute strike against Lens on Thursday, but he and Ibrahima Kone each missed their kicks from 12 yards away as they were beaten 4-2 on penalties in the Coupe de France.
Both of them found the back of the net in their previous road fixture in this competition, but Vito Mannone conceded four goals to Reims in a 4-2 defeat, as Les Merlus have conceded in three of their four matches in all competitions this year away from home.
Nantes possible starting lineup:
Lafont; Centonze, Victor, Castelletto, Traore; Girotto, Sissoko; Guessand, Mollet, Ganago; Mohamed
Lorient possible starting lineup:
Mannone; Kalulu, Meite, Talbi, Le Goff; Le Fee, Makengo; Dieng, Innocent, Faivre; Kone
We say: Nantes 0-0 Lorient
With a big European match upcoming, we expect Kombouare will want to give his starters a little playing time but not much so as not to risk an injury.
Therefore, we expect La Maison Jaune to be pragmatic in their approach this weekend and hang back defensively, while containing the Lorient attack should not be a problem for them as Les Merlus have not shown much quality in front of goal lately.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
