Nantes vs Paris Saint-Germain 05/02/20

5 February 2020

Out-of-form Nantes will take on a rampant Paris Saint-Germain side at the Stade de la Beaujoire looking to put together two consecutive Ligue 1 (L1) home H2Hs without a loss for the first time in 14 years.

But, a 3-2 away loss to Rennes last time out now means the hosts have suffered three consecutive defeats in all competitions, with each of them coming via a single-goal margin. In line with their tendency to keep it tight, they’ve lost all four of their previous competitive home matches, each by a narrow one-goal margin. A lack of goals, especially in the first half, could be a massive problem for Les Canaris here. Indeed, they’ve scored just ten goals in 11 L1 home fixtures so far, with only four of them arriving before halftime. Nantes’ potential success in this showdown will heavily depend on whether they can defensively perform as they did to date. Christian Gourcuff’s men have shipped just eight L1 home goals this season, with 38% of them coming in the first half.

Meanwhile, the visitors go into this meeting on a run of six straight wins in all competitions, with each of their last five successes seeing PSG keep a clean sheet. The reigning holders remain one of two sides yet to draw a single L1 away game (W9, L2), with 45.45% of those results (win/loss) yielding a single-goal margin. With all seven of their previous L1 H2Hs with Nantes at this venue seeing one of the teams grab three points (W6, L1), a draw seems to be an unlikely outcome. Quick-fire starters like very few others in the top-tier division, the reigning holders have opened the scoring in ten of 11 league road trips, with 48% of 25 L1 away goals scored coming inside the first 45 minutes.