Nantes can book a place in the Coupe de France round of 32 for a fourth consecutive season with a victory on Saturday against Drancy JA at Stade de Paris.
Earlier this month, the fifth-tier side from Seine-Saint-Denis scored three first-half goals to dispatch US Noyelles by a 3-0 score, while La Maison Jaune lost their final Ligue 1 affair of 2024, 4-1 at Brest.
Match preview
After claiming a narrow victory over Pays de Cassel in their opening fixture, Drancy took care of business at the start of December, leaving no doubt against Noyelles.
Saturday will be their first appearance at this stage of the Coupe de France since 2012, when they made it all the way to the last 16.
Besides their last two victories at this tournament, not much else has gone right for Drancy, who are third from the bottom in their Championnat National 3 group.
Ralph Noncent's men have failed to find the back of the net in their last two domestic encounters, both of which were losses, while they have won just two of their previous seven matches across all competitions.
Since their new campaign began in late August, they have gone pointless in just two matches as the home team, both of which took place at their regular venue, Stade Charles Sage.
Drancy have not been knocked out of this competition as the home team since October 2019, when US Creteil-Lusitanos beat them 2-1 in extra-time.
Nantes have had another mediocre beginning to a Ligue 1 campaign for a third successive season, accumulating a mere 14 points after 15 matchdays.
That has put manager Antoine Kombouare on the hot seat and in danger of being sacked for a second time by this club, with his side currently two points above Le Havre in the final relegation place.
Over the past few seasons, the silver lining for La Maison Jaune has been their strong performances at this tournament, making the final in two of the previous three editions.
Meanwhile, they have not exited the Coupe de France at this stage since 2021, when Lens claimed a 4-2 victory against them at Stade de la Beaujoire.
They may be better suited as the visiting team, as Nantes have not lost an away contest at the Coupe de France before the final since Paris Saint-Germain claimed a 3-0 triumph against them in the 2019 semi-finals at the Parc des Princes.
Les Canaris have not lost an away fixture in this competition against a lower-tiered French side since Sochaux (Ligue 2) beat them 3-2 in extra-time in the 2016 quarter-finals.
Team News
From their match with Pays de Cassel to their game against Noyelles, we saw three changes to the Drancy starting 11 with Younes Ghabaoui, Luca Spurio and Moussa Dieye replacing Sofiane Boukhedimi, Christopher Lina and Idris Kadded.
Goals from Ryan Laplace, Dramane Diaby and Spurio convincingly enabled them to win their previous Coupe de France fixture, with Assine Derkaoui collecting a clean sheet.
A muscle injury could keep Tino Kadewere out of the Nantes lineup for this encounter, while Kombouare made one change to his starting 11 from matchday 14 to 15 of the Ligue 1 campaign, with Jean-Kevin Duverne replacing Nathan Zeze.
Kadewere was their leading goalscorer at this tournament last year, netting twice, with Florent Mollet and Kader Bamba being the only others to score.
Drancy JA possible starting lineup:
Derkaoui; Lekpa, Metzler, Ghabaoui, Fofana; Diaby, Dieye, Spurio, Sanogo; Kadded, Traore
Nantes possible starting lineup:
Lafont; Coco, Pallois, Zeze, Cozza; Tomas, Chirivella, Mollet, Augusto; Ganago, Simon
We say: Drancy JA 0-4 Nantes
Nantes seem to thrive in elimination affairs, and given how frustrating the top-flight season has gone, we expect them to show no mercy against a Drancy side, who, on paper, are vastly inferior to them.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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