Troyes and Nantes have an opportunity to end lengthy winless spells in Ligue 1 when they resume the top-flight campaign on Wednesday at Stade de l'Aube.
ESTAC have not won a domestic affair since beating Clermont 3-1 in September, while the last victory for la Maison Jaune in this competition occurred in October against that same team, 2-1.
Match preview
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Following a narrow escape from relegation last season, Troyes have again put themselves in a dangerous position just a point above that line after 15 matches.
In their first league contest following the sacking of Bruno Irles, we saw another disappointing performance from this team before the international break, managing just two shots on target in a 2-1 defeat at Brest.
Patrick Kisnorbo has been appointed the new manager of this club, and the Australian-born coach is coming off a successful campaign in the A-League, leading Melbourne City to consecutive premiership titles along with a league championship.
Their seven matches without a win is the joint-longest ongoing run currently in this competition alongside Angers and Montpellier, while it is also the longest such streak for this club since entering Ligue 1 a season ago.
Over the past couple of months, this team have put themselves in a position to earn their share of points before crumbling at the most inopportune moments, squandering nine points when leading in the second half in four of their previous five contests.
They have lost five of their last six Ligue 1 fixtures versus Nantes, failing to score in each of those defeats, though their previous game against them ended in a 1-0 victory at home in 2021-22.
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Nantes have not scored a first-half goal in this competition in four consecutive fixtures and are without a victory away from home in the current campaign.
With just two wins after 15 league games, it is the fewest total victories for this club since racking up that same amount in 2001-02.
In their previous encounter before the World Cup, Les Canaris did something they had only done once in five years, as they collected a point in this competition when trailing by two goals after over an hour of play.
Antoine Kombouare's men have failed to score in three road outings this season, while 24 of their goals conceded have come away from home.
Since dropping a 4-2 decision against Lens in February 2021, La Maison Jaune have only suffered one defeat in all competitions when scoring multiple times in a single game.
Last season, Nantes won three of their four domestic encounters played in December, three more than they had in that same month of the 2020-21 campaign.
Team News
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The last goal scored by a Troyes player domestically came in their previous home game versus Auxerre, when Rony Lopes put them in front after 28 minutes, his second in the last two matches at Stade de l'Aube, Mama Balde has found the back of the net twice in his previous three domestic affairs, while their only strike versus Brest came thanks to an own goal from Brendan Chardonnet.
Ike Ugbo had the only goal in their previous encounter versus Nantes last season when Gauthier Gallon made three stops to collect a clean sheet.
Wilson Odobert is without a goal since early October, while Balde will be suspended following his expulsion in the final 10 minutes against Brest.
Karim Azamoum is out with an ACL issue, Florian Tardieu will not be available for a few more weeks because of a sore heel and Jessy Moulin continues to nurse a shoulder injury.
Moses Simon and Ludovic Blas netted 19 minutes apart, helping Nantes come back to draw Ajaccio 2-2 in their previous league fixture, while Mostafa Mohamed is without a goal in league play since October 30.
Andrei Girotto, who has yet to score in this season's competition, notched the winner at home to Troyes in 2021-22, Nicolas Pallois missed their previous domestic affair through suspension and Sebastien Corchia was in the starting 11 versus Ajaccio, the first time he began a league fixture since the end of August.
Charles Traore is out because of an ACL injury, Denis Petric continues to deal with a sore hip and Fabio could be back in a few weeks from a calf strain.
Troyes possible starting lineup:
Gallon; Conte, Palmer-Brown, Salmier; Dingome, Odobert, Chavalerin, Kouame, Ripart; Ugbo, Lopes
Nantes possible starting lineup:
Lafont; Corchia, Castelletto, Girotto, Merlin; Sissoko, Chirivella; Appiah, Blas, Simon; Mohamed
We say: Troyes 1-1 Nantes
These are two evenly matched teams with just a single point separating them in the table, and without their most lethal attacking threat, we expect the new Troyes boss will have a more conservative approach in this encounter.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
