Nantes vs Marseille

Ligue 1 title-hopefuls Olympique Marseille travel to the Stade de la Beaujoire to lock horns with mid-table Nantes.

Nantes could only manage a goalless draw at Clermont Foot last weekend, but the hosts’ rock-solid defense now heads into proceedings off the back of five consecutive clean sheets in Ligue 1 (W2, D3). Despite alternating between drawing (3) and winning (2) in their five top-flight matches since the World Cup break, they are the only side in the French top-flight yet to concede after December’s resumption. That bodes well for Nantes’ effort to avoid losing back-to-back home league games against Marseille for the first time since 1993 following a 1-0 defeat in this corresponding fixture in 2021/22. Their penchant for sharing the spoils may also come in handy, with ‘Les Canaris’ drawing six of their last nine league outings (W2, L1).

In the meantime, Marseille fought back from a 1-0 halftime deficit to hold Monaco to a 1-1 home draw at the weekend, which wasn’t enough to extend their six-game winning Ligue 1 run beforehand. But Igor Tudor’s men are still in contention for what would be their first top-flight title since 2009/10, as they start this round only five points off table-topping PSG. Confidence remains high in the visiting camp after ‘Les Olympiens’ strung together three consecutive away league victories following a two-game winless run on the road (D1, L1). Indeed, they’ve only lost one of their nine Ligue 1 fixtures on hostile turf this term (W6, D2), which strengthens their hopes of beating Nantes in fourth straight Ligue 1 H2H.