The 2022/23 French Ligue 1 season begins this weekend and on the 7th of August we have a meeting between Angers SCO and FC Nantes in the Derby de l’ouest.
The match will be played at the Stade Raymond Kopa and the hosts will be aiming for a top half finish while the visitors will be hoping to close the gap on the top six.
J-3 avant #SCOFCN 🎥 pic.twitter.com/XibrOeorTb— FC Nantes (@FCNantes) August 4, 2022
J-3 avant #SCOFCN 🎥 pic.twitter.com/XibrOeorTb
Angers come into the game having played a series of friendly matches in preseason. They recorded only 1 win from their final 5 friendly fixtures, with the victory coming over Saint-Etienne. There were defeats against Brest and Sevilla, the latter of which was a disappointing 6-0 loss.
Angers won 2 of their last 3 Ligue 1 games at the end of last season, with the victories coming over Bordeaux and Montpellier at home.
However, they were the only 2 wins recorded by Angers in their final 9 Ligue matches last season. Home form improved towards the end of last season and Angers have won 3 and drawn 1 of their 5 most recent Ligue 1 games at the Stade Raymond Kopa. The only defeat came at the hands of champions Paris Saint-Germain.
Trends show in their last 17 games in Ligue 1, Angers have a poor record of just 3 wins. All the wins have come when playing at home, so Angers will be confident of starting with a win this season.
Nantes travel to the Stade Raymond Kopa having suffered a 4-0 loss in the French Super Cup last weekend.
They were the underdogs going into the game against Paris Saint-Germain but would have been hoping for better than a 4-0 loss. That result means Nantes have lost their last 2 games, the other of which was a 1-0 defeat at home in a friendly against Rennes.
Nantes proved difficult to beat towards the end of last season in Ligue 1 and they lost only 2 of their last 9 league fixtures.
However, there were only 3 victories in those 9 matches and Nantes have been struggling to pick up wins when playing away in the league. Trends show Nantes have managed just 1 win in their last 9 away Ligue 1 matches.
Nantes have been conceding a lot of goals on the road and they have allowed 2 or more goals in 4 of their last 5 away league games.
Team news and Angers will be without the suspended midfielder Nabil Bentaleb. Cédric Hountondji and Adrien Hunou are two new additions who could make their debut.
Nantes have no injury or suspension concerns for this match. Moussa Sissoko arrived from Watford in the summer and should make his Ligue 1 debut for the club.
This has the makings of a tough opening fixture for Nantes. Angers ended last season strongly at home and will be aiming to pick up where they left off by taking maximum points.