Nantes vs Montpellier
French Ligue 1
Date: Wednesday, 21st December 2016
Kick off at 19:50 UK Time
Venue: Stade de la Beaujoire (Nantes).
Nantes resurgence continued on Friday as they beat Angers 2-0 away from home to secure them back to back wins for the first time since the start of October. This followed on from their 3-1 win over Montpellier in the Coupe de la Ligue last week, which ended their six match winless streak and will give them a huge psychological boost ahead of their Ligue 1 clash this week.
The hosts’ Ligue 1 form has been patchy at best though, and their inability to avoid defeat has left them in a dangerous 19th position in the table. They have lost nine of their 17 league matches so far this season, winning four and drawing four to make up their 16 point tally.
Only one of these victories has come on home soil as well, a record that leaves them with the worst home record in the division, having picked up just six points in eight league matches.
Montpellier bounced back from their midweek cup exit by smashing Bordeaux 4-0 at home on Saturday to make it three wins, three draws, and two defeats in their last eight Ligue 1 games.
This leaves them in a rather uninspiring 11th position in the table, whilst away from home they hold the 4th worst record in the division, thanks to four draws and five defeats in their nine matches.
The chances of this being an entertaining game are tragically low. Nantes have scored just three goals at home this season, and whilst Montpellier’s scoring record isn’t too bad, they are missing two of their top three scorers in Ryad Boudebouz and Casimir Ninga. This doesn’t leave a lot of inspiration out on the pitch.
Nantes awful scoring record at home means that just 25% of their home games have seen both teams find the net, so backing Both Teams Not to Score at 4/5 looks a good option along with a 0-0 correct score predictions at 7/1.
Nantes vs Montpellier: Head to Head Stats
Nantes has won 3 of the last 4 home matches over Montpellier. The teams played just last week in the Coupe de la Ligue in Nantes where the home side won 3-1. Montpellier has only won this fixture at Nantes once since 2000 although that was the last time they visited here for a league match where they came away with a 2-0 win.
Nantes vs Montpellier: Prediction
This will be more of an intriguing game for the customer betting on it than it will be for a neutral watching a game of football. This is because anything can happen in this game. On paper Montpellier should come here and ease to victory, but Nantes come into this match in a good mood and history says they do well here. We should expect to see goals- there will be spaces exploited as both sides will go gung-ho, in search of a spectacular win.
Nantes vs Montpellier: Bet Tips
Nantes vs Montpellier over 3.5 goals at 10/3 (4.33)
Anytime goal scorer: Mariusz Stepinski (Nantes) at 23/10 (3.30).
