Bordeaux and Nimes will both be looking to recover from dampening defeats when the two Ligue 1 sides lock horns at the Matmut Atlantique on Sunday afternoon.
Les Girondins suffered their heaviest defeat of the season so far against Marseille last time out, whereas Nimes were no match for champions Paris Saint-Germain in gameweek seven.
Match preview
The staunch rearguard action of Bordeaux has been well-documented this season, as Les Girondins headed into their showdown with Marseille having kept five clean sheets from six games this season.
However, Jean-Louis Gasset saw his normally reliable backline breached easily by the Champions League contenders as Marseille cruised to a 3-1 victory at home, with Pablo scoring an own goal after Florian Thauvin and Jordan Amavi had netted for Les Olympiens.
Nevertheless, Bordeaux still boast the third-best defensive record in the league with only five goals conceded, and Gasset's men have been handed a prime opportunity to rectify last weekend's mistakes against a lowly Nimes outfit in gameweek eight.
That being said, Les Girondins' ability to keep teams at bay is all well and good, but the Bordeaux frontline must start firing on a more consistent basis if Gasset's side are to propel themselves further up the table; only the bottom three sides have scored less than Bordeaux's seven goals thus far.
Meanwhile, Nimes were always going to be facing an uphill battle to extend their unbeaten streak to four matches when they paid a visit to PSG, and as expected, the in-form champions stormed to victory against Jerome Arpinon's men.
With Loick Landre being sent for an early bath after just 12 minutes of the tie, the 10 men of Nimes proved no match for the Ligue 1 giants as Kylian Mbappe, Pablo Sarabia and Alessandro Florenzi all increased their tallies for the season against Les Crocodiles, who were unable to build on three respectable results in the top flight.
Prior to that drubbing at the hands of PSG, Arpinon had seen his players battle for draws against Lyon and Lens as well as a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Montpellier, and Nimes can look ahead to less daunting fixtures against Metz, Angers and Reims in the month of November.
For now, though, Nimes will simply be hoping to avoid the same fate as their most recent meeting with Bordeaux, where Les Girondins ran out 6-0 winners in the only fixture between the two sides last season, and Les Crocodiles have only prevailed once in their last 10 games against Bordeaux.
Bordeaux Ligue 1 form: WDLDWL
Nimes Ligue 1 form: LLDDWL
Team News
Bordeaux left-back Loris Benito was forced off in the defeat to Marseille with an ankle problem and is a doubt for this one, with Maxime Poundje ready to deputise if required.
Fellow defender Laurent Koscielny is nursing an adductor injury and may not be fit enough for Sunday either, while Samuel Kalu and Mexer are both still sidelined.
Josh Maja came off the bench to bag a late consolation for Les Girondins against Marseille and will be hoping to have done enough to warrant a recall to the first XI.
With regards to Nimes, Pablo Martinez is set for a start at centre-back with Landre suspended, but Anthony Briancon is back from a ban of his own and will partner Martinez in front of Baptiste Reynet.
However, Zinedine Ferhat - who boasts three goals to his name this season - will sit this one out owing to a hamstring issue, while former Bordeaux man Yassine Benrahou may also not be involved against his former employers.
Bordeaux possible starting lineup:
Costil; Sabaly, Pablo, Baysse, Poundje; Basic, Otavio; Oudin, Arfa, Preville; Maja
Nimes possible starting lineup:
Reynet; Burner, Briancon, Martinez, Miguel; Cubas, Deaux, Fomba; Eliasson, Roux, Ripart
We say: Bordeaux 2-0 Nimes
Bordeaux have not been renowned for high-scoring affairs this season but ought to feel confident of returning to winning ways against a Nimes side forced into a defensive reshuffle. The visitors are certainly not expected to ship as many goals as they did at the Matmut Atlantique last season, but Bordeaux should pick up all three points with minimal trouble either way.
Top betting tip
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