In the match of the 18th round of the French championship Nantes will play at home with Clermont. The latter are at the bottom of the standings in Ligue 1 and are gradually becoming the main outsiders of the championship. Clermont lacks neither the class of performers, nor an organised game. Therefore, the decline continues. Although the gap from the penultimate Lorient is only one point, and from Toulouse - three. Not all is hopeless.

In the last match Clermont knocked Metz out of the French Cup, defeating them in a penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw. And Clermont finished the year with defeats to Rennes (1-3) and Marseille (1-2) in the championship. There the series without victories is already six matches. During this time, only two points have been gained. Which explains the fall of Clermont. But also Nantes is far from ideal condition. In the standings are not all that bad, he is in 13th place, but goes in a very tight group, where many teams are separated by a couple or three points. In the last cup match Nantes defeated Pau (4:1), but before that lost three times in a row: Lyon (0:1), Brest (0:2) and PSG (1:2). But a little earlier defeated Nice (1:0), which is extremely difficult to do in the current season.

In the match of the first round of the current championship Nantes was stronger than Clermont with a score of 1:0 thanks to Simon's goal at the beginning of the second half. But in this meeting Simon will not help Nantes, he left for the African Cup of Nations. As well as Moutoussamy, Mohamed and Castelletto. And Sentons and Ganago are still injured. Clermont have Seydoux, Diaw and Bela listed in their losses. However, even with these losses, the teams need to create chances. Nantes have warmed up well in the French Cup and in principle have a good attacking potential, while Clermont are cornered and must go forward.