Qarabag go into round No. 5 of the Europa League five points behind group leader Freiburg. On Thursday night, Qarabag could close the gap to Freiburg with a win against Nantes and results going their way elsewhere.
Nantes are third in Group G with three points from four games in the tournament. The Canaries have not had a good season and are struggling on all fronts. Nantes shocked French football by winning the Coupe de France last season.
Force à vous les jeunes pour demain ! 👊 pic.twitter.com/oJbU96Y3YK— FC Nantes (@FCNantes) October 25, 2022
Force à vous les jeunes pour demain ! 👊 pic.twitter.com/oJbU96Y3YK
They haven’t been able to continue the momentum and could be eliminated from Europe on Thursday night with a loss or draw versus Qarabag.
Nantes went unbeaten in seven straight games in all competitions. However, the Canaries are unbeaten in their last two matches in all competitions. They have found some positive form and could make life difficult for Qarabag on Thursday night.
The Canaries won just three of 16 matches in all competitions this season. They lost the reverse fixture against Qarabag 3-0 away from home.
Owusu Kwabena opened the scoring for Qarabag on the hour mark. Abdellah Zoubir added a second five minutes later and Marko Jankovic rounded out the scoring on 72 minutes.
Qarabag go into the Europa League fifth matchday on a nine-game unbeaten streak in all competitions. They won eight of those nine fixtures.
The Azerbaijani team doesn’t have any fresh injury problems ahead of the match. Manager Qurban Qurbanov will be able to select from a fully fit squad for the match. Forward Ramil Sheydayev leads Qarabag in goals with 10 ahead of kick-off in France.
Qurbanov is likely to stick with a 4-2-3-1 formation. He has favoured Owusu at the point of the Qarabag attack with Shedayev on the right wing. Owusu has three goals for Qarabag this term.
Nantes right-back Fabien Centonze is a doubt to play due to a muscle injury. He is the only player currently on manager Antoine Kombouaré’s injury list. Moses Simon has been Nantes’ best-attacking player. He has four goals and two assists this season for the Canaries.
Kombouaré also favours a 4-2-3-1 formation with Simon on the left wing. The Canaries drew 1-1 with Nice at the weekend to achieve their second straight positive result in Ligue 1.
Although Nantes have improved in recent weeks, Qarabag should post a win at full-time. Qarabag won 3-0 in the reverse fixture and should come close to replicating the victory on Thursday. Qarabag should collect a 3-1 victory.