Nimes vs Caen Predictions

Fabien Mercadal’s Caen managed to clamber up to 18th last week as they miraculously beat Monaco 1-0 on their own turf. Enzo Crivelli’s first half header thwarted any reply from the Monegasques as Caen picked up their first league win of 2019. This was especially impressive as Caen managed to win despite their recent power struggle between manager Mercadal and his club appointed assistant Rolland Courbis. Courbis was brought in a few months ago to bring experience to the coaching staff, something that Mercadal lacks given that this is his first Ligue 1 job. Courbis recently declared in a press conference that he was the sole manager though, before quickly being corrected by a club statement. This turmoil seems to have had a positive effect on the team though as they battled hard for the three points despite not having a single corner kick and just 37% of the possession.

This type of performance has been rare under Mercadal as it was their first clean sheet since mid-February. It also came off the back of a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Saint-Étienne so it’s incredible that the team managed to rally for the victory. However, Monaco aren’t a team without their issues and it’s hard to argue that this win didn’t have anything to do with the state of the principality club at the moment. Therefore Caen should still approach this upcoming fixture with some degree of pragmatism.

Nîmes have done well to get to 12th position, especially considering that it’s their first year back in Ligue 1. However, Bernard Blaquart’s men have fallen into a bit of a rut recently with three losses and a draw making up their last four games. The matches against PSG, Saint-Étienne and Strasbourg were always going to be tough given those three teams’ league standing but even against 17th placed Amiens they struggled. They only had two shots on target against the relegation battlers and were very much played off the park in their 2-1 defeat. 

Nîmes will hope that their home form can bring them a good result here as they have been largely impressive at the Stade des Costières. They have lost just four of their 15 home matches this season and with three of these coming against Nice, Lille and PSG, they can probably be excused for these defeats. Apart from that they have won six and drawn five of their matches on home soil, earning them the majority of their points this season. 

The home advantage will be crucial in this match, especially considering that last week’s victory was Caen’s first away victory since September. Nîmes won 2-1 when these teams last met in December and we’re backing a similar result here. Nîmes have scored seven times in their last four home matches but have kept just one clean sheet in their last ten games. Caen have scored a solitary goal in their last three away games and will be confident following the Monaco victory but we can’t see them getting the victory here given their form so we’re backing a 2-1 win for Nîmes.