As we pass the midway point of the Ligue 1 campaign, Nantes will seek their first domestic triumph of 2024 when they host Lens on Saturday at Stade de la Beaujoire.
On matchday 19, La Maison Jaune could only manage a 0-0 draw with Reims, while Les Sang et Or won their first league fixture of the year last weekend, 2-0 over Toulouse.
Match preview
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It has only been a couple of weeks since the Ligue 1 campaign resumed, but Nantes continue to struggle, winless in five successive domestic encounters and goalless in their last two competitive fixtures.
Scoring goals has proven to be quite challenging for this group, with Les Canaris netting just four goals in their last 10 league contests and never managing to score more than once, their longest such run in this competition since 2018 (11).
Jocelyn Gourvennec's side are only four points above Clermont in the final relegation place and just three ahead of Lyon in the relegation playoffs.
After 19 matchdays in the French top flight, Nantes have accumulated 19 points, two fewer than a season ago when they barely survived relegation, overtaking Auxerre by a single point on the final matchday of 2022-23.
Nantes have lost consecutive domestic fixtures on home soil versus Brest (2-0) and Clermont (2-1) but have not suffered three successive top-flight defeats since December 2019- February 2020 (three).
La Maison Jaune have claimed 27 home victories against Lens in Ligue 1, the most for this side at Stade de la Beaujoire against a single top-flight opponent, alongside Lyon (27).
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It was a tough start to the New Year for Lens, exiting the Coupe de France on penalties against Monaco and then suffering a 2-0 domestic defeat versus Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).
Franck Haise's men, though, were able to shake that off last week and earn their first away victory of this competition since a 3-0 win over Clermont last November.
Lens have only won three domestic contests away from home all season while losing four matches as the visitors in this competition, one more than they had suffered over the entire 2022-23 domestic campaign.
Their victory last week has them right back in the thick of the race for a place in Europe next season, currently in eighth on 29 points, just three behind Lille for a spot in the Europa League group stage.
The strongest aspect of their game of late has been their tidiness on the back end, maintaining a clean sheet in nine of their previous 13 Ligue 1 affairs, with just seven goals conceded over that stretch.
Les Sang et Or are unbeaten in their last four top-flight meetings with Nantes, but they have not beaten them away from home in this competition since the 2000-01 season (2-0) when the league was known as Division 1.
Team News
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Bastien Meupiyou might be available for Nantes, having previously sustained a knee injury, Fabien Centonze is questionable due to physical discomfort and Benie Traore will be suspended for another match following his red card versus Clermont.
Moses Simon is still with the Nigerian national team after they qualified for the African Cup of Nations quarter-finals last weekend, Samuel Moutoussamy and the Congo also made it into the last eight, while the leading scorer for Nantes, Mostafa Mohamed, and Jean-Charles Castelletto may be back in time for this match after Egypt and Cameroon were knocked out of that competition.
Alban Lafont only had to make one stop against Reims last weekend to collect his first clean sheet since early December (1-0 victory over Nice).
Jimmy Cabot might need another week to fully recover from his ACL injury, Deiver Machado is nearing a return to the Lens lineup after previously sustaining a groin strain and Jonathan Gradit is out for another match following his straight red card in mid-January versus PSG.
Morgan Guilavogui will not be available after Guinea reached the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations, Nampalys Mendy might be back for this match after the reigning champions Senegal exited that tournament on penalties versus the Ivory Coast, Abdukodir Khusanov is in the Asian Cup quarter-finals with Uzbekistan and the Colombian Under-23 squad have one final Pre-Olympic tournament match, meaning Oscar Cortes will not available for Lens.
David Costa and Andy Diouf each scored their first Ligue 1 goals of the campaign last Sunday, while Brice Samba stopped the four shots fired his way for his ninth clean sheet of the season, the third-most in the top-flight.
Nantes possible starting lineup:
Lafont; Amian, Pallois, Zeze, Duverne; Sissoko, Augusto, Chirivella; Ganago, Kadewere, Mollet
Lens possible starting lineup:
Samba; Sotoca, Aguilar, Danso, Medina, Chavez; Diouf, El Aynaoui, Costa; Said, Wahi
We say: Nantes 0-1 Lens
While history suggests Nantes have the upper hand in this contest, we believe the overall form of Lens and their balance across the board will enable them to end a lengthy winless drought versus La Maison Jaune at Stade de la Beaujoire.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
