Toulouse face Nantes in Ligue 1 on Sunday in what will be a repeat of last year's Coupe de France final.
A 5-1 thrashing from Toulouse saw them take the crown that night, but this fixture will see both sides looking to distance themselves from the relegation zone, as opposed to chasing silverware.
Match preview
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With the entire bottom seven being separated by just five points, a clash between two sides in that pack is likely to be crucial if either wants to distance themselves from the bottom three heading into the final stretch.
Toulouse got the better of Nantes in last season's cup final and repeated the feat in more dramatic circumstances on the opening day of the season, as a Rasmus Nicolaisen strike in stoppage time won them all three points on the road.
However, they have gone on to win just three games since then in the league, with their home form being of great concern, with just one league victory in 16 at the Stade Municipal.
Despite that though, having taken just 20 points from 20 games, Toulouse are still in the most comfortable position of all the sides in the pack at the bottom.
Carles Martinez's side sit 12th, despite ending 2023 with a 10-game winless run in Ligue 1, as their only wins in any competition from October 1 onwards all came in the Europa League.
A win on their return to action against fellow strugglers Metz was crucial, but their season threatened to derail again when they were stunned by Rouen in the Coupe de France, before Lens came to the Municipal and recorded a comfortable 2-0 win.
However, a superb win at European-chasers Reims last weekend moved them four points clear of the bottom three, to take some of the pressure off as they face another side near them in the standings.
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Meanwhile, Nantes are currently one of the most out-of-form sides in Ligue 1, with just one point collected from their last six games.
That solitary point came in a 0-0 draw with Reims, as they have suffered defeats to relegation rivals Lyon and Clermont in that time.
Lower-league Laval also dumped them out of the Coupe de France in what has been a miserable 2024 so far for the Nantes faithful.
By scoring just four goals in their last 11 league games, it is difficult to see how Nantes will be able to quickly turn their fortunes around, as they sit 14th just three points above the drop zone, with a meeting against Paris Saint-Germain coming up next week too.
Team News
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Toulouse will be boosted by the returns of both Logan Costa (Cape Verde) and Moussa Diarra (Mali) after their respective nations were eliminated from the Africa Cup of Nations last week.
Still on the sidelines though remain Zakaria Aboukhlal and Denis Genreau with injury, but the effect of the former's absence has been minimised by the arrival of Shavy Babicka late in the January window.
Babicka starred for Aris Limassol in the Europa League earlier this season, scoring three group stage goals, including home and away against Rangers, and he netted his first Toulouse goal last weekend.
While Toulouse were able to welcome back their remaining AFCON participants, Nantes will remain without Moses Simon after Nigeria reached the final.
The visitors are also likely going to be without DR Congo's Samuel Moutoussamy, who will compete in the third-placed playoff.
On the injury front, Eray Comert (ankle), Bastien Meupiyou and Ignatius Ganago (both knee) are all out, while Douglas Augusto will miss the clash with suspension after being booked last weekend.
Toulouse possible starting lineup:
Restes; Desler, Mawissa Elebi, Nicolaisen, Suazo; Sierro, Schmidt, Gboho; Donnum, Dallinga, Babicka
Nantes possible starting lineup:
Lafont; Amian, Castelletto, Zeze, Duverne; Pedro Chirivella, Sissoko, Mollet; Coco, Mostafa Mohamed, Kadewere
We say: Toulouse 1-0 Nantes
With a huge clash in Europe against Benfica in Lisbon on the horizon in midweek, Toulouse must first attend to matters domestically, and recent form suggests they should get over the line with three points here.
Nantes' awful form of late shows no sign of stopping anytime soon given their profligacy in attack, and they could end up being sucked in closer to the drop zone by the end of the weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
