PSG vs Nantes

Runaway Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain entertain bottom-half Nantes at the Parc des Princes.

PSG regained full control of the Ligue 1 title race with a scintillating 3-0 victory at second-placed Olympique Marseille last weekend, moving eight points clear at the summit. Having alleviated some pressure on manager Christophe Galtier, ‘Les Parisiens’ are confident about maintaining an almost-perfect home league record in 2022/23 (W10, D2) against a Nantes side they’ve lost to twice in their last four top-flight H2Hs (W2). However, the joint-record French champions have suffered just one defeat in their previous 75 home league encounters against sides starting the matchday in the lower reaches (W63, D11), though if you’re looking for an omen, it was against Nantes in March 2021. Nothing of the sort should take place this weekend, considering Galtier’s men are unbeaten in their last 34 home matches in Ligue 1 (W29, D5).

On the other hand, visiting Nantes came from behind to dispatch Lens 2-1 in midweek Coupe de France action, halting a poor run of three competitive defeats. However, the visitors’ woeful league form has seen them pick up just one win in their last four outings (D1, L2), failing to get on the scoresheet in each failed attempt to gain three points in that run. On a more positive note, Antoine Kombouare’s men have collected eight points across their five league travels since Ligue 1’s resumption in December (W2, D2, L1), as many as in their previous 14 away league games beforehand (W1, D5, L8). Much of their hopes of staging an upset will rest on defensive resilience that saw them keep four consecutive clean sheets on the road before a 3-1 thumping at Lens last time out.