Nantes vs PSG

Runaway Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain head to Stade de la Beaujoire to take on bottom-half underachievers Nantes.

Nantes got their Ligue 1 survival quest back on track after a disastrous run of five defeats in six league games (D1) with a gutsy 2-1 win at Toulouse last weekend, maintaining a three-point gap on the bottom three. Interestingly, they netted as many goals in that victory against Toulouse as they had in their previous six top-flight outings combined, testifying to this team’s significant scoring problems. Indeed, only four sides have bagged fewer goals than Nantes (22) this term, but if it’s any consolation, 64% of them have come on home turf (14/22). Irrespective of that record, Jocelyn Gourvennec’s men have lost their last three league matches at Stade de la Beaujoire, reducing the manager’s hopes of defying his underwhelming H2H record against PSG (W3, D1, L13).

Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain took a vital step toward breaking their Champions League last-16 hoodoo with a 2-0 first-leg win against Real Sociedad in midweek, taking their winning streak in competitive action to four matches. Back to Ligue 1 duties, Luis Enrique’s men are looking to build on a come-from-behind 3-1 home triumph against Lille last time out and make it five consecutive away wins in the process. Despite taking the field as odds-on favorites, PSG can’t take anything for granted, considering they’ve lost twice on their last five league visits to Nantes (W3). However, as the only Ligue 1 team yet to lose a top-flight match away from home this season (W7, D3), ‘Les Parisiens’ will be confident of avoiding another upset, especially as their rock-solid backline has only conceded seven goals across those ten travels.