Nantes will hope to maintain their topflight status as they travel to the Stadium de Toulouse for the first leg of their French Ligue 1 playoff against Toulouse. Both teams showed plenty of attacking quality in the final weeks of the regular season and should serve up goals here.
A rally in the final weeks of the Ligue 2 season ensured Toulouse secured a place in the playoffs. They went unbeaten in their final five matches, claiming three wins and two draws but missed out on automatic promotion by two points.
Toulouse head into Thursday’s clash off the back of a 3-0 victory over Grenoblefoot in their final regular season fixture. First half goals from Stijn Spierings and Kouadio Kone put them in control of the match while Rhys Healey added the third on the stroke of 90 minutes.
While Toulouse have impressed in attack lately, scoring eight goals in their last three matches, their defence remains a source of worry for manager Patrice Garande. They have conceded five goals in that run with a 3-3 draw against Dunkerque among their results.
Nantes missed out on automatic survival after suffering a 2-1 home defeat to Montpellier in their final Ligue 1 fixture of the season. They failed to build on Randal Muani's first half equaliser and conceded the winner midway through the second period.
After struggling for much of the campaign, Les Canaris had attempted a late season blitz to secure their survival in the French topflight. Manager Antoine Koumbouare led the team to four straight wins before stumbling at the final hurdle.
Nantes have also won their last three matches on the road, including a 4-0 victory over Dijon in their last away fixture. They have kept just one clean sheet in their last 14 away matches.
How the bookies view it
Nantes have the slight edge among the bookies and are priced at 8/5 by bet365 to win. A victory for Toulouse is valued at 2/1 by the same firm, who are also offering 19/10 for a draw.
Head to head
Nantes have an 11-10 edge with 10 draws from 31 previous matches against Toulouse. Les Canaris claimed a 2-1 victory in the last meeting between both teams back in 2019.
Players to watch
Striker Rhys Healey was one of the stars for Toulouse during the regular season and finished with 15 goals. With Stijn Spierings also contributing 10 goals from midfield, they could produce over 1.5 goals at 9/4 with bet365.
Nantes have multiple attacking threats with Randal Muani and Moses Simon combining for 15 goals during the regular season. Ludovic Blas was the top scorer with 10 goals from midfield and all three men can combine to produce over 1.5 goals for the visitors at 7/4.
Anything else catch the eye?
With Toulouse and Nantes boasting quality in attack and often shaky at the back, the goals market could be considered. Both teams could be backed to score at 9/10 with bet365, who is also offering 23/17 on over 2.5 goals while over 3.5 goals is priced at 10/3 by the same firm.
Both teams could also be backed to score in the second half at 11/4 with bet365.
This French Ligue 1 match between Toulouse and Nantes will be played on May 27, 2021 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Toulouse vs Nantes prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
