Nimes welcome the visitors Angers SCO in the French Ligue 1 – Round 20. The match will be held on Wednesday, January 23rd, at the Stade des Costieres (Nimes).
Angers SCO are a very hard nut to crack. Only 1 of their 8 latest opponents could beat them (2-5-1), Bordeaux, however, needed a goal on the 90th minute (1:2), which was not logical at all going by the game – according to xG, Angers were 6 times stronger (2.31 versus 0.38). That was a banal bad luck. In the following 7 rounds, the team have regularly picked up points. On Sunday, Moulin’s side have upset Nantes’ forwards, playing ‘to nil’ yet the 7th time in the league (1:0). This is the best lower table record. Now Angers’ keeper Butelle is in the Ligue 1 top-three by clean sheets. The team’s perfect defense allowed only 5 goals in 8 previous rounds. Only Paris Saint-Germain’s defense was stronger over this period.
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Nimes, to their regret, are struggling a lot in clashes against the teams like Angers – those who play defense first. In the last round, Toulouse settled compactly on their side and took a shutout win from Nimes (0:1). The hosts dominated and possessed but failed to unlock the opponent’s goal. They lacked ingenuity. There is a possibility that the strong Angers’ defense will succeed at the Stade des Costieres tomorrow. Overall, Moulin’s men allowed in outings less than at home (11 goals versus 13). Take out the failing trips to Paris and Saint-Etienne and you will get 2-4-1 and only 4 missed goals. Parking the bus, Angers still yield the highflyers (though Saint-Etienne netted their decider on the 89th minute), while they regularly attain points on their travels to middle-class teams and outsiders.
Featuring 3 losses in 4 latest Ligue 1 rounds, the newcomer to the elite division Nimes have gradually started to go down to the relevant lines in the lower table. Their away performance is stronger, thus, in outings, they racked up more points than they did on their turf. Nice and Toulouse, extremely defensive outfits, took whitewashes from Nimes; Guingamp and Reims drawed 0:0 against the hosts. Finally, Angers must take a revenge for the silly loss to Nimes in the opener. In front of their fans, Angers were 3:1 ahead, they outnumbered the opponent, controlled the game… and contrived to concede 3:4, allowing thrice in the last 15 minutes. The league newcomers were lucky that time, but the justice is always served. In our view, now it is the guests’ turn to feature luck. Their form is great now, and they are wrongly underestimated these days.
Prediction for the match: Angers SCO to win with a +0.5 handicap.
