Two sides separated by 30 points in the Ligue 1 table will do battle at the Stade des Costieres on Sunday afternoon as Nimes play host to Monaco.

Les Crocodiles are rooted to the bottom of the table after 22 matches, whereas Monaco have propelled themselves into title contention in recent weeks.

Match preview

It was only a matter of time before the Nimes hierarchy took action amid their side's abysmal spell of form, and the league's basement side announced on Friday morning that Jerome Arpinon had been sacked as the club's manager.

The 42-year-old had overseen a dreadful run of one win, one draw and nine losses from his final 11 matches in charge, and a 3-0 defeat to champions Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday evening - during which Angel Di Maria, Kylian Mbappe and Pablo Sarabia all netted - was the final nail in the coffin for Arpinon.

For now, the league's basement side will turn to former Chamois Niortais manager Pascal Plancque - who only joined as an assistant coach in January - as a short-term fix, and the 57-year-old must prepare for a baptism of fire against a rampant Monaco outfit, who will be confident of adding to the 47 goals Nimes have already shipped this term.

Survival is certainly not an unrealistic expectation for Les Crocodiles, as only four points separate them from safety at this point, and they do have a game in hand over 19th-placed Dijon and 17th-placed Nantes - two sides who just cannot seem to win at all.

Not even a 2-1 victory at Marseille on January 16 could save Arpinon from the sack, and while the Nimes faithful will be praying for an immediate new manager bounce, a seven-game losing streak on home soil is a recipe for disaster against one of the most in-form teams in Europe.

In complete contrast, Monaco are simply unplayable at the minute and made it six wins in a row with a 2-1 victory over a struggling Nice outfit in the Derby de la Cote d'Azur on Wednesday evening.

It was certainly not as dominant a victory as many would have predicted, but Niko Kovac's men got over the line thanks to Wissam Ben Yedder's penalty and thunderous free kick either side of an equaliser from Pierre Lees Melou.

Ben Yedder has endured a heavily disrupted season after contracting coronavirus back in November, and it has taken a while for the inspirational striker to fully recover from the disease, but he is now back to his brilliant best with four goals and one assist from his last four outings.

Wednesday's win also marked the seventh game in a row that Monaco have found the back of the net at least twice, although they have only kept a clean sheet on one occasion during that run - a potential point of concern for Kovac as his team look to sustain a title challenge.

The fourth-placed Monegasques are now just six points adrift of leaders Lille and could go level on points with PSG if they suffer a derby defeat to Marseille later on Sunday, although the champions do boast a far better goal difference of +39 compared to Monaco's +14.

Nimes have actually won the last two meetings with Monaco on their own turf, but Kovac's men eased to a 3-0 success over Les Crocodiles earlier in the campaign.

Nimes Ligue 1 form: LLLWLL

Monaco Ligue 1 form: WWWWWW

Team News

Plancque is likely to be without Sidy Sarr, Loick Landre and Pablo Martinez for his inaugural match in charge of Nimes, but the trio are expected to return before the end of the month.

It remains to be seen how the former Leicester City assistant will line up for his first game in the dugout, but he was partial to a 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 during his time with Ligue 2 side Chamois Niortais.

Niclas Eliasson and Moussa Kone were both benched for the visit of PSG but will hope to write themselves into the manager's good books straight away this weekend.

Monaco centre-back Benoit Badiashile had to be forced off at half time against Nice, but the 19-year-old simply suffered an impact injury after a collision with Kasper Dolberg and should be fine for this one.

With Cesc Fabregas also back in the fold after recovering from a calf problem, Monaco's only injury concern at the minute is Gelson Martins, who recently underwent surgery on his knee.

New arrival Krepin Diatta could find his spot under threat from Ruben Aguilar, but there is no reason for Kovac to fix what is not broken this weekend.

Nimes possible starting lineup:
Reynet; Burner, Briancon, Deaux, Meling; Cubas, Fomba; Ferhat, Ripart, Eliasson; Kone

Monaco possible starting lineup:
Lecomte; Sidibe, Maripan, Badiashile, Henrique; Diatta, Tchouameni, Fofana, Diop; Ben Yedder, Volland

We say: Nimes 0-3 Monaco

Plancque is kicking off his Nimes reign with what could potentially be their toughest match of the campaign, and it would take nothing less than a miracle for the 57-year-old to get off the perfect start this weekend. The visitors are scoring for fun at the moment and are certainly in the title conversation now, so this should be a comfortable away win.

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