Our prediction for this Ligue 1 match:
Angers
Match Time & Date:
11/08/2018
02:00 PM
Prediction: 1-1
Nimes
Stade Raymond-Kopa will host Saturday’s football game between Angers and Nimes, who face each other at the start of the new Ligue 1 campaign. Angers finished the 2017/2018 season in 14th place in the standings, only four points clear of bottom three and, no doubt, they are eager to make amends for the unsuccessful campaign. It is well known that les Scoistes produce much better showings at home than on the travels, but Nimes, who return to the French top flight, should not be written off just yet. The newcomers must be high on confidence ahead of the season opener and we predict that they will fight tooth and nail against Angers. A lively contest is on the cards and there is every chance both teams will find the net at Stade Raymond-Kopa. It hast to be noted that the two sides meet for the first time ever in the French elite division.
Highlighted Player (Mathieu Michel):
Mathieu Michel is a product of Nimes football academy. The 188-cm-tall goalkeeper played for the youth team of Nimes from 1999 to 2014 and in August 2013 he made his first-team debut with les Crocodiles, playing the entire game in a 3-1 loss to Tours.
After making 79 appearances for the club from 2012 until 2016, Michel moved to Angers in the summer of 2016, signing a three-year deal with the Ligue 1 club. The French shoot-stopper, who was born in Nimes on September 4, 1991, managed to keep eight clean sheets in 23 appearances for Angers in the 2016/2017 Ligue 1 campaign and you should bear in mind that he conceded 25 goals in the process.
Angers did well to make it to the 2016/2017 French Cup final, but big-spending club Paris Saint-Germain proved to be a big catch for Stephane Moulin’s troops. Mathieu Michel’s contract with les Scoistes expires on June 30, 2019.
Highlighted Team (Nimes):
Founded on April 10, 1937 Nimes Olympique are a French club that will compete in the Ligue 1 in the 2018/2019 season. Les crocodiles were playing an important role in French football in the last 50s, with the team finishing second on four occasions (1958, 1959, 1960, 1972).
Nimes made it to the French Cup final in 1958, 1961 and 1996, but they eventually failed to lift the trophy. Nimes are well known for their red home colours, but they wear white shirts and white shorts when playing on the travels. Stade de Costieres has been the home of Nimes since 1989, when it was opened.
The venue can hold up to 18,482 spectators and the construction cost €160 million. Speaking of the club’s notable footballers, the likes of Wilson Oruma, Mehmed Bazdarevic, Aliou Cisse, Benjamin Moukandjo, Laurent Blanc, Frederic Piquionne and Eric Cantona were all part of les crocodiles in the past. Montpellier are considered their biggest rivals.
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