Five things on Nantes - PSG Handball

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On Sunday afternoon, Paris Saint-Germain Handball play another huge match! It's a headline match-up of European standing that awaits them in this 12th Round of the Lidl StarLigue as they travel to the H Arena to challenge Nantes.

Top-of-the-table clash
Heading into Sunday's match, Les Rouge et Bleu are still riding the wave of their flawless start to the Lidl Starligue campaign, which has seen them clock ten wins from as many matches (with their postponed Round 11 clash with Istres still to play). They are therefore at the top of the standings before starting a week of three matches that include trips to Nantes and second-placed Montpellier before the visit of Dunkirk. With eight matches in the books - six wins, a draw and a loss - Nantes could also pull back to within four points of our side with a win. Mathematically, this match promises to play an influential role in the race for the title!

Two European teams
This confrontation goes beyond the French borders. Indeed, Nantes and Paris are the two clubs that represent France in the EHF Champions League. In six European matches this season, Raul Gonzalez's men have won three times and lost as many times. In a ranking disrupted by the many postponements, they sit in fourth place in Group A. In Group B, the task is heavy for Nantes, who have to contend with Veszprém, Barcelona and Kiel, who will all be present at the Velux EHF Final4, along with the Parisians, at the end of December. After six matches, Nantes are sixth in their group (two wins, four defeats).

Key stats
This clash promises a glittering display of attacking handball! Heading into Round 12, the Parisian and Nantes attacks have the league's best ratios of goals per match, with 36.80 for Paris (368 in ten matches) and 30.63 for Les Violets (245 in eight matches). Individually speaking, Nedim Remili remains our top scorer with 50 goals. Note that if he manages to find the net five times at The H Arena, our right-back will hit the 900-goal mark with Paris Saint-Germain! It will in any case take some sharp shooting to get the better of a Nantes rearguard that has proven ruthlessly efficient since the beginning of the year. Indeed, they boast the second-toughest defensive record in our championship, with just 202 goals conceded, thanks in large part to the excellent Cyril Dumoulin and Emil Nielsen.

Head-to-head
In the Coupe de France, the Coupe de la Ligue, the Trophée des Champions or even the Champions League... this fixture, which has become a Lidl Starligue classic, has now taken place in almost every competition! In the Lidl StarLigue, these two teams will meet for the 23rd time! While the overall balance sheet is to the advantage of Les Rouge et Bleu (12 victories, three draws, seven defeats), Nantes remain dominant on home turf. Before playing host to the capital club this Sunday, they have a record of five wins, three draws and only three defeats. But the trend seems to have been reversed in recent seasons; the last Parisian defeat in Nantes dates back to December 22, 2016 (37-31). Since then, our players have carved out a run of seven games without defeat against The H.

To follow the game (kick-off at 16:00):
• Television: beIN SPORTS 3
• Live tweet: our official page

(Credits: TeamPics/PSG)