Nantes – Montpellier Prediction & Picks (06.05.2018)

Nantes and Montpellier meet at Stade de la Beaujoire – Louis Fonteneau, in a match for the 36 th round of League 1. Nantes won by (0-1) the last time they met in this edition of the league, 09-09-2017. In this stadium, the record of direct confrontations is favorable to the home team, which records 4 wins and 1 loss in the last 5 matches. In fact, the last time these two teams played a match at this stadium was on 21-12-2016, in a match for the League 1 that ended with the victory of Nantes by (1-0). The only goal of the game was scored by Lucas Lima (12 ‘). In spite of being a match between º º and 9 º of the table, in fact it is a confrontation between the 11 º classified in parties in house and the 7 º as visitor.

Nantes:

The home team is currently in the ª position, without any points conquered, after 12 wins, 10 draws and 13 losses. In the penultimate match, they tied in a home match against Rennes, by (1-1). In the last match, they lost in an away match against Olympique Lyonnais, by (2-0). This is a team little affected by the home factor, that is, usually conquer as many points at home as outside. In his last games he scored 14 goals and suffered 15 at home, against 19 scored and 24 suffered as a visitor. For the championship, Nantes won 9 points out of 30 possible points, after 2 wins, 3 draws and 5 losses in the last 10 home matches. In their home league matches the most frequent result at half-time was the 1-0 (7 out of 17 matches). The team has conceded goals in 9 of the last 10 matches, so it has not presented great defensive solidity, but their offense has scored consistently, as they have scored goals in 7 of the last 10 matches for this competition. In their home matches for this competition there is a tendency for few goals, since 12 of the last 17 matches have ended with Under 2,5 goals. In 35 matches in this competition, they only got 1 comeback in the 14 matches in which they suffered the first goal.

The Nantes is making a final stretch of the championship to forget, since it does not win six consecutive games in the French championship. We remember that in the last game the home team lost against Lyon, 2-0. In this game against his fans it is expected that coach Claudio Ranieri plays in 4-2-3-1, privileging possession of the ball and organized attacks: Valentin Rongier is one of the main responsible for creating the offensive process. Emiliano Sala is the best scorer of Nantes, with 12 goals scored. However, it is important to underline that the local team has presented failures in the offensive sector, since they scored on average only 0.82 goals per game in their stadium. For this game the coach can count on the entire squad.

Montpellier:

After 10 wins, 16 draws and 9 losses, the away team is currently in the 9 th position of the league, with 46 points won. In the penultimate match, they lost in an away match against Nice, by (1-0). In the last match, they lost in a home match against Saint-Étienne, by (0-1). This is a team that usually maintains its competitive level in home and away matches, with 13 goals scored and 13 conceded in away matches, against 19 goals scored and 18 conceded at home. In the last 10 away matches Montpellier has 3 wins, 5 draws and 2 losses, so they have won 14 points out of 30 possible. In their home league matches the most frequent result at half-time was the 0-0 (7 out of 17 matches). The team allowed goals to the opponent in 8 of the last 10 matches for this competition, so it was not very strong defensively. In their away matches for this competition there is a tendency for few goals, since 14 of the last 17 matches have ended with less than 3 goals. In 35 matches in this tournament, he suffered the first goal 15 times and only managed 2 comebacks. In the last 17 home matches for this competition there is 1 period that stands out: they have conceded 5 of their 13 goals between minutes (31’-45 ‘).

Like his rival, Montpellier is going through a less positive phase of the season and in the last match lost against Saint-Étienne, by 0-1. In this away game, coach Michel Der Zakarian must play with a starting eleven very similar to the last game, that is, 5-3-2, with Ninga and Giovanni Sio being the ones most responsible for tormenting the home defensive line. : the second is the best score of the team, with 10 goals scored. If we analyze the games away from home, we can verify that the visitors scored on average 0.76 goals per game, that is, they exhibit failures at the time of finishing. There are no important absences for this game.