Play off final first leg for right to be in Ligue 1.
27 May - Kick off at 1945 - Live on BT Sport 1
Nantes must be a little disappointed that find themselves in this situation after having so many teams in danger of finishing 18th. If Nantes had won their last game of the season, at home to Montpellier, they’d have jumped to 14th in the league. Even a draw would have been enough for them to stay up at the expense of Brest. Instead they lost 1 - 2 to Montpellier and find themselves facing two games to save their Ligue 1 status. How much stuffing will that loss have taken out of Les Canaris? Prior to that they’d been on a four match winning run scoring 13 goals in the process. Can they get that confidence in their play back or will players be thinking how they could be on a beach instead of still training? Les Nantais have no injury concerns and will be looking for top scorers Ludovic Blas (10 goals, 4 assists) and Randal Kolo Muani (9 goals, 4 assists).
Whilst Antoine Kombouaré's team may feel like they’re being dragged down, Toulouse must feel they are on the up. Ligue 2’s highest goal scorers by some margin Les Toulousains have been in decent form. They finished the season 3rd in the league and are unbeaten in the last five games. The last of which was a convincing 3 - 0 semi final play off against fourth placed finishers Grenoble Foot. Toulouse Coach Patrice Garande, a striker himself back in the day likes to play a minimum of two up front. He changes formations between 5-3-2, 4-4-2 and 3-5-2. Whilst the goals have been spread out through the team its unsurprisingly his front three that have weighed in most considerably; Amine Adli has 8 and is apparently being watched by Marseille and A.C Milan. The Celtic loanee from the Ivory Coast, Vakoun Issouf Bayo, is on 11. 27 year old Englishman Rhys Healey is top scorer on 15.
The young Mancunian has enjoyed his first season in French Football. Will he be playing at a higher level next season. With Toulouse's form and goalscoring they have a real chance of beating Nantes over two legs. Tonight's result will be crucial though. They need to take something to Nantes on Sunday, preferably a goal and a clean sheet. Nantes have a better squad though so if they perform they should be favourites.
Frenchfooty prediction: Toulouse 1 V Nantes 1
Its tough on Nantes to be in this position but this French systemdoes give teams in lower leagues a chance of progression.