Toulouse vs Nantes Prediction & Betting Tips (18 August)

Toulouse distinguished itself last year by taking 2nd place in its Europa League group, behind Liverpool certainly but ahead of Union Saint-Gilloise and LASK, even having the luxury of winning against the Reds at the Stadium. TFC then saw its European road come to a halt during the play-offs against Benfica despite some very good performances on offer. Following this elimination, the players of the Pink City were able to concentrate their efforts on the championship where they were in difficulty to finish this 2024-2025 financial year very well and obtain a very suitable 11th place with a nice lead of 14 points over the zone. red. A priori, the Violets should maintain fairly limited ambitions this year and a comfortable maintenance would already be satisfactory for the leaders. This summer, Toulouse began their preparation with a success against Rodez 2-1, then played back to back with Pau 2-2 before winning against Roma 0-1 and especially Girona 0-4 who will play the C1 this season, a great achievement. Against the two other Spanish clubs of Espanyol Barcelona and Real Valladolid, it's a 0-0 draw and [to be continued]. On the other side of the median, Nantes played with fire again last year.

Always weighed down by chronic sporting instability and numerous changes of coaches, the Canaries flirted with the red zone for a long time last season before finally seizing the final 14th place in the ranking, with only 4 points ahead of the play-off player and future relegated player, Metz. The people of Loire will no doubt want to do much better this year and avoid further fears but are not sure that they have the means to achieve their ambitions... During its summer preparation, the Cité des Ducs de Bretagne club imposed against Caen 0-1 then against Dunkirk 2-1 after a defeat against Hamburg 4-2. After another victory against Laval 1-2 and a draw against Lorient 1-1, a mountain will rise with Crystal Palace to close the preparation.

Loaned in the second half of the season, midfielder Spierings returned to Lens. Central defender Moussa Diarra (free), and right-back Desler (Austin FC) also left the club, as did center forward Begraoui (Estoril) and winger Cissoko (Plymouth Argyle, loan). The only recruits to report so far on the TFC side are central defender Charlie Cresswell who arrived from Leeds, but above all the 2018 World champion, Djibril Sidibé who is joining free after a stint at AEK Athens. Author of 14 goals last season, Dutch striker Dallinga ended up joining Bologna. The Swiss international Sierro (6 goals), the winter recruit Gboho (3 goals, 3 assists) and the Cameroonian Magri (5 goals, 2 assists) will be worth watching. Goalkeeper Guillaume Restes, who played in the Olympics with the Bleuets, is not yet guaranteed to be present for this poster. Already present in the squad in the second part of last season, the promising Abline (Rennes) and the striker Kadewere (Lyon) were definitively recruited by the Nantes leaders.

Welsh winger Sorba Thomas (Huddersfield) has arrived on loan. Conversely, they did not wish to retain the former French international Sissoko (Watford), the midfielder Moutoussamy (free), the winger Bamba (free). Loaned to the club last year, Swiss defender Cömert (Valencia), full-back Cozza (Wolfsburg) and Ivorian striker Traoré (Sheffield United) returned to their club. Last year's satisfactions were not numerous for Nantes but we can still point out that the Egyptian striker Mohamed (8 goals) is still in the squad as is the playmaker Mollet (4 goals, 4 passes). Nigerien wisp Moses Simon (3 goals, 5 assists), injured for a long time, may still be a little short of being available from this first day. Forced to withdraw from the Olympic Games with Egypt, Mohamed played in a friendly and should be operational.