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Nantes will host Olympiacos at the Stade de la Beaujoire on Thursday in their UEFA Europa League opener.
The hosts have endured a tough start to their campaign, kicking off with a 4-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Trophee des Champions in July. They were beaten 3-0 by the Parisians in their most recent outing and will look to bounce back here. Nantes are set to make their Europa League group stage debut this week and will hope to mark the occasion with a win.
Olympiacos, meanwhile, began their quest for Europe in the Champions League qualifiers, where they were knocked out in the second round by Maccabi Haifa. They, however, secured a spot in the Europa League group stage after beating Slovan Bratislava and Apollon Limassol on penalties in the third qualifying round and playoffs respectively.
The Greek giants opened their UEFA Europa League campaign last season with a 2-1 win over Royal Antwerp and will hope for a positive start here as well.
Nantes vs Olympiacos Head-to-Head
This will be the first meeting between Nantes and Olympiacos, marking the visitors' 31st matchup against French opposition.
Olympiacos have won 11 games against French clubs and lost 16, while three other matchups have ended in draws.
Nantes Form Guide (all competitions): L-D-W-L-D
Olympiacos Form Guide (all competitions): W-D-W-W-D
Nantes vs Olympiacos Team News
Nantes
Jean-Charles Castelletto came off injured last time out and is a doubt for this one alongside Charles Traore. Moussa Sissoko, Moses Simon and Quentin Merlin remain sidelined.
Injured: Moussa Sissoko, Moses Simon, Quentin Merlin
Doubtful: Charles Traore, Jean-Charles Castelletto
Suspended: None
Unavailable: None
Olympiacos
The visitors have a fairly lengthy list of absentees, including Sime Vrsaljko and Mathieu Valbuena, who are injured.
Konrad de la Fuente, Philip Zinckernagel, Konstantinos Fortounis and Kenny Lala are unregistered for the competition. Ousseynou Ba is suspended after getting sent off in the playoff win against Apollon Limassol. Meanwhile, Marcelo's involvement is in doubt, as he has only arrived recently.
Injured: Sime Vrsaljko, Mathieu Valbuena
Doubtful: Marcelo
Suspended: Ousseynou Ba
Unavailable: Konrad de la Fuente, Philip Zinckernagel, Konstantinos Fortounis, Kenny Lala
Nantes vs Olympiacos Predicted XIs
Nantes (3-4-3): Alban Lafont; Nicolas Pallois, Andrei Girotto, Sebastien Corchia; Fabio, Samuel Moutoussamy, Pedro Chirivella, Dennis Appiah; Ludovic Blas, Evann Guessand, Mostafa Mohamed
Olympiacos (4-2-3-1): Tomas Vaclík; Pipa, Pape Cisse, Konstantinos Manolas, Oleg Reabciuk; Yann M'Vila, Andreas Bouchalakis; Giorgos Masouras, Pep Biel, Garry Rodrigues; Ui-Jo Hwang
Nantes vs Olympiacos Prediction
Nantes are on a run of back-to-back winless outings and have won just one of their last eight games across competitions.
Olympiacos, meanwhile, are on a seven-game unbeaten streak and are in much better form than their opponents. Despite their plethora of absentees, the Greek outfit should win this one.
Prediction: Nantes 1-2 Olympiacos
