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Nantes have a lot of problems with their offense

Coach Anti will probably have to do without middle back Claire, defense leader Feliho and left back Sayad who hasn’t played this season

After a point earned at Tremblay and a home victory over Toulouse, Nîmes is undefeated in their third consecutive game. Moreover, they made a big step towards securing their stay in the league, with a victory over their direct rival Dijon, their last season’s rival in the second division. The scoreboard read 24-22, although at half time the score was 16-7. Nîmes played poorly in the second half, Dijon's defense was excellent, and in 48th minute of the game they tied for 18-18, which means Nîmes scored only two goals in the first 17 minutes of the second half. 

- We are athletes, but we are also human. When you are in the lead with a 9-goal advantage at half time, you obviously relax a little. And they reacted out of pride, the atmosphere was such you couldn't hear a whistle in there - said goalkeeper Yassine Idrissi.

- But we have become mentally stronger in the last couple of years, we do not struggle in such situations anymore and were able to find a solution. 

The home game against Nantes is the first game against a team from the top of the league table, if we don’t count the two defeats at St. Raphaël, one in the league and one in the Coupe de la Ligue.

 - We will not falter in front of anyone. Who could have predicted Cesson will win at Montpellier? Nantes is a European team, and this is a test for us, we are playing at home and want to make a statement. To win at Le Parnasse is almost a duty, a commitment  - said the home team’s goalkeeper, who saved 10 shots in the game against  Dijon.

Middle back Zens scored 4/7, right back Waeghe 5/13, left back Saurina only 2/6 ... This wasn't a great performance, especially in the second half, and to win when you have played so poorly for 30 minutes, this can only serve as an incentive. Their defense is excellent and tonight Nantes will feel it too.

Nantes are coming after a game in Belgrade. They beat Partizan 22-15, but the impression they give at the moment is far from excellent. Rivera scored 9, Vujic 5, Entrerrios and Nyateu 2 each. They were playing without Sayad (injured for a long time), defense leader Rock Feliho and middle back Nicolas Claire. The victory with a 7-goal advantage practically secures the second round, there is no need to rest the players for the weekend, so today they have to give their maximum.  Especially since they lost at home to Dunkerque 22-19 in the last round. Nantes currently have huge problems with their offense, in the last four games they scored 25 against Toulouse, 24 against Cesson, 19 against Dunkerque and 22 against Partizan.

- I expected a lot more from Partizan, they were too impressed, it’s not the same team I watched the video of. Gorazd Škof was excellent - said coach Thierry Anti, who rotated a lot in the end, in order to rest Entrerrios and Maqueda.

There is no information confirming the return of any of the injured players. Handzone web site states all three will probably be absent, which means Nantes will be playing with the same line up that beat Partizan in Belgrade. If they play at the same level, there will be a lot of problems. 

Nantes don't seem as a confident, offensively-oriented team at the moment. They scored 19 goals in last week's match against Dunkerque, and 22 goals in the match against Partizan, who are playing with their junior team. Nimes' defense is getting better each day, leaving Dijon at 7 goals after the first half in an away match. Before that, in a home match against Toulouse, after receiving 15 goals in the first half, they received only 10 in the sequel. They will want to assert themselves through defense here as well, because it is clear that they'll have problems in the offense. The only good thing about Nantes is precisely their defense, alongside the goalkeeper Skof. In their last away match, they defeated Cesson with a 24-18 score, and this same Cesson played 27-22 against Nimes. Everything indicates that this will be a match with less than 50 goals, and our margin for today is 53.5.