The stakes, the stats and the history of the clash! Check out all you need to know before kick-off in Matchday 9 of Ligue 1 2020-21, between Football Club de Nantes and Paris Saint-Germain at the Stade de la Beaujoire!
A bit of history...
99th official match between the two sides, only three sides have played more matches against Les Parisiens than Les Canaris: Bordeaux (105 matches), Monaco (103 matches) and Lyon (100 matches).
Les Parisiens boast the better record, with 47 wins, 23 draws and 28 defeats. In the last 25 official matches between the two sides since October 2004, Les Rouge et Bleu have only been beaten on one occasion on 17 April 2019 (2-3), against 22 wins and 2 draws.
The Paris forwards are also rather prolific against Les Canaris, with at least one goal scored in the last 22 encounters between the two sides, since the 0-0 at the Stade de la Beaujoire in Ligue 1 on 25 February 2006. It's a current Paris Saint-Germain record, beating the records against Saint-Etienne (21 matches) and Bordeaux (19).
Matches against Nantes haven't always been good memories for Les Parisiens, beaten on 1 September 1971 in the league by 0-6. Les Rouge et Bleu's heaviest defeat in the first division to date.
29 players have worn the shirt of both clubs: Jérôme Alonzo, Sylvain Armand, Claude Arribas, Jean-Hugues Ateba, Jean-Kevin Augustin, William Ayache, Michel Bibard, Lorik Cana, Bruno Carotti, Dominique Casagrande, Benoit Cauet, Eric Cubilier, Xavier Gravelaine, Vahid Halilhodzic, Antoine Kombouaré, Mickaël Landreau, Nicolas Laspalles, Dominique Leclercq, Paul Le Guen, Yvon le Roux, Patrice Loko, Claude Lowitz, Claude Makelele, Granddi N’Goyi, Nicolas Ouédec, Fabrice Pancrate, Fabrice Poullain, Alioune Touré and Mario Yepes.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani are the top scorers for Paris Saint-Germain against Nantes, with nine goals scored. They top the table ahead of Pedro Miguel Pauleta (6 goals).
The stakes...
Paris Saint-Germain, now sit at the top of Ligue 1, and are on a six match winning run in the league. Les Parisiens haven't done better than that since 2018-2019, a season in which Les Rouge et Bleu established a league record, with 14 consecutive victories.
With 96 goals scored for Paris Saint-Germain, Kylian Mbappé is approaching the 100 goal mark for the club. The Parisian forward is only two goals off the club's top five scorers (Mustapha Dahleb, 98 goals from 1974 to 1983). Only one French player has done better: Dominique Rocheteau and his 100 goals scored in Paris.
The keys to the match...
Moïse Kean, who has scored two braces for the club against Dijon (4-0, on 24/10/2020) and Istanbul Basaksehir (2-0, on 28/10/2020) in four matches since arriving in Paris, is now looking to make it three against Les Canaris. Only one striker has done better in his first matches for Les Rouge et Bleu: Zlatan Ibrahimovic at the start of the 2012-2013 season (two braces in three matches).
Paris Saint-Germain will be able to rely on their solid defence, who have only conceded three goals in eight matches since the start of the league, with 5 clean sheets achieved. The club's record was established during the 1996-1997 season: no goals conceded after 8 matches.
Presnel Kimpembe is in line to play his 150th match in Paris colours. Only 11 players who have come through the ranks at the Paris-Saint Germain have achieved this feat: Eric Renaut, Thierry Morin, Jean-Marc Pilorget, Jean-Claude Lemoult, Franck Tanasi, Luis Fernandez, Francis Llacer, Jérôme Leroy, Clément Chantôme, Mamadou Sakho and Adrien Rabiot.
