A.J. Auxerre vs FC Nantes Best odds and tips

This Saturday’s Ligue 1 clash between A.J. Auxerre and FC Nantes could be a tight encounter with the visitors arriving as the slight favourites at 2.40, while the hosts are 2.88 and the draw is 3.40. Auxerre sits 10th in Ligue 1 with 41 points from 32 games and are having a solid mid-table campaign, but Nantes are in 15th with 32 points from 32 games. Christophe Pelissier’s side have been in mixed form recently with two wins and three defeats in their last five Ligue 1 fixtures. They followed up a 4-0 win at Lens with losses to Lille and at home to Le Havre.

Hamed Traore is Auxerre's dangerman with 10 goals from 24 Ligue 1 appearances this season, including a brace in that 4-0 win at Lens. Gaetan Perrin has boosted the hosts’ attacking play with three assists in their last five games, helping them to a seven-goal haul in that period. Nantes have been struggling too with just one win in their last five and they arrive here off the back of two home draws with PSG (1-1) and Toulouse (0-0) and a 0-1 defeat to Angers last time out. Matthis Abline is Nantes’s main goal threat with eight Ligue 1 strikes this campaign, but Douglas Augusto has chipped in with two of the last four goals in what has been a tough five-match spell for the visitors.

Nantes have won two of the last three meetings with Auxerre, beating them 2-0 at home eight months ago, but they have never won at Auxerre’s ground. Antoine Kombouare took over as head coach in March 2024 and has done a good job of steadying the ship and tightening up a defence that was leaking goals. This is a clash of Auxerre’s patient possession-based football against a deep-lying, reactive Nantes side that will park the bus and hit on the break. With every point vital to Nantes in their fight for survival, this could be a cagey match with few clear-cut chances. But with Auxerre’s strong home scoring record and Nantes leaking on the road, both teams to score looks like a good value bet in this match. A draw or narrow win for the visitors seems the most likely result given the odds and both teams’ inconsistent form.