On Wednesday afternoon, Troyes and Nantes go head-to-head at the Stade de l'Aube, as both teams try to put some distance between themselves and the Ligue One relegation zone.
The home team is currently in 13th place in the French top-flight table, just outside the Ligue One danger zone. A big factor in their current perilous position in the league table has been a seven-game winless run in Ligue One before the international break.
A 2-1 defeat at Brest in their last league outing was the eighth straight Ligue One game in which both teams had scored in Troyes’ matches.
Troyes are unbeaten in their last six home matches in the French top flight. However, their previous five home matches in Ligue One have all produced draws. They have actually won just one of their last eight home games in the French top flight.
The visitors are experiencing a similarly poor Ligue One campaign to their hosts, as they are currently only out of the relegation zone courtesy of a superior goal difference to teams directly below them in the table.
As you would expect for a team near the bottom of the table, their pre-World Cup form was poor, as Antoine Kombouare’s team has been winless in their last four league outings. In fact, they have won just once in their previous 11 outings in the French top flight.
A lack of clean sheets has certainly hindered their chances of improving results of late, as they have kept just one clean sheet in their previous 11 Ligue One matches.
Nantes have been poor travels of late in the French top-flight, having failed to win in 11 away games while suffering four defeats in their previous five matches on their travels.
Forebet predicts that these two teams will produce a close and low-scoring draw, which does neither team much good when it comes to staying in Ligue One.