Nantes welcome Reims to the Stade de la Beaujoire on Sunday afternoon for a midtable clash during matchday 24 of the Ligue 1 season.
Both sides won their most recent game, but the visitors' victory came in the league whilst for the hosts it was a triumph in the cup after a loss last weekend.
Match preview
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Nantes have struggled to find any consistency in the league in 2022, with their four results so far reading draw, loss, win, loss.
After a high-scoring 4-2 victory at home to struggling Lorient two weeks ago, Antoine Kombouare would have hoped to build some momentum when his side faced Strasbourg on Sunday.
However, Dimitri Lienard punished a Fabio Da Silva mistake in the 74th minute to give Les Bleu et Blanc a 1-0 victory and leaves Nantes stranded in midtable obscurity.
Fortunately for Les Canaris, the six teams surrounding them in the league also fell to defeats so they remain near enough as they were heading into the last game.
The tightly-packed Ligue 1 midtable means a win could see them move from 10th to as high as 7th, whilst a loss could see them drop to 12th, so it's perhaps important they have the momentum of Thursday's 2-0 cup win against Bastia to drive them on.
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Reims would love to break into that midtable pack, sitting as they do, five points behind Nantes in 14th place.
They have come close to breaking into it before but seem to stall every time they get near, following up two wins with a loss to Angers back at the start of December and then, after a strong end to the year, failing to win their first three games of 2022.
Les Rouges et Blancs did, however, follow those disappointing results with a win last weekend - and not just a win but indeed a thrashing of Bordeaux.
Hugo Ekitike opened the scoring just before the break, but the floodgates opened in the second half, with Azor Matusiwa, Wout Faes and a Marshall Munetsi double making it 5-0 at the final whistle.
A performance similar to that level would surely be enough to take another three points this weekend and truly move Oscar Garcia's side away from danger and finally into the midtable battle.
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Team News
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Nantes should have Jean-Charles Castelletto back in the their defensive four after his return from the Africa Cup of Nations.
Goalkeeper Alban Lafont and midfielder Samuel Moutoussamy are both doubts, however, after missing Thursday's Coupe de France match.
As for the visitors, Munetsi's double last weekend should have earned him a spot in the starting XI on Sunday, whilst Dion Lopy returns from suspension but may have to settle for a spot on the bench.
Jens Cajuste is a doubt, having missed the win over Bordeaux with a knock, and he joins a long list of Reims players in the treatment room including Fode Doucoure, Valon Berisha, and Arber Zeneli.
Nantes possible starting lineup:
Deschamps; Corchia, Pallois, Castelletto, Appiah; Chirivella, Cyprien; Coco, Blas, Simon; Kolo Muani
Reims possible starting lineup:
Rajkovic; Abdelhamid, Faes, Gravillon; Foket, Matusiwa, Cajuste, Konan; Mbuku; Ekitike, Kebbal
We say: Nantes 0-1 Reims
Nantes are struggling in the league right now, whilst Reims will be buoyed by their impressive victory. Lafont will also be a big absence for the home side and that could be the difference between the two sides in what will likely be a tight match.
Top tip
James Mackenzie
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Nantes win with a probability of 52.89%. A draw had a probability of 25.8% and a win for Reims had a probability of 21.28%.
The most likely scoreline for a Nantes win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.96%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (10.66%) and 2-1 (9.23%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.07%), while for a Reims win it was 0-1 (7.9%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 14% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Nantes in this match.
