Last Updated on April 17, 2026 8:46 pm by ZUWP Automation
A side that cannot lose meets a side that cannot win — something has to give at the Beaujoire
Nantes have not won in five. Neither have they lost. Five consecutive draws, four of them goalless, have produced a run so inert it defies easy categorisation — not a crisis, not a revival, just an unbroken flatline stretching back to the start of March. Brest arrive on Sunday having lost three of their last five, including back-to-back away defeats to Monaco and Auxerre. The form lines point in opposite directions, and yet the history between these two sides suggests the gulf may be narrower than it looks.
Match Details
- Fixture: Nantes vs Brest
- Venue: Stade de la Beaujoire – Louis Fonteneau
- Date: 19 April 2026
- Competition: Ligue 1, 2025/26
- Referee: Not confirmed
The Form Picture
Nantes’ record of 0W 5D 0L in their last five matches is one of the more unusual sequences in French football this season. They drew 0-0 at Auxerre, drew 0-0 at Metz, drew 1-1 with Strasbourg at home, drew 0-0 with Angers SCO, and drew 0-0 away at Lille. The pattern is relentless: a side that has found a way to avoid defeat without ever threatening to win.
What makes it stranger still is the goalscoring record. Four of those five draws were scoreless. Matthis Abline, Nantes’ most active forward with 62 shots across the season and five league goals, has been unable to break the deadlock single-handedly. He averages 2.6 shots per match and has created six big chances for teammates, but the output has dried up as the draws have piled up.
Brest’s recent form reads 1W 1D 3L in their last five, and the defeats have a troubling texture. They lost 0-1 at Monaco, 0-1 at Auxerre, and then fell 1-2 to Rennes at home. Only a 1-0 win over Le Havre and a goalless draw at Metz have offered any relief. Three defeats in five, with just one goal scored across those three losses, points to a side that has lost its attacking momentum at the worst possible moment in the season.
Key Players to Watch
Nantes’ most complete performer this season has been midfielder Johann Lepenant. He has accumulated 62 tackles across the campaign, ranking 11th in the entire division, and has contributed 20 key passes alongside 111 duels won. His average rating of 6.88 marks him as one of the more consistent presences in Nantes’ midfield, and against a Brest side that has struggled to control matches in recent weeks, his ability to win the ball and recycle it quickly will be central to any Nantes attacking platform.
Alongside Lepenant, Matthis Abline carries the attacking burden. Five goals and three assists from 27 appearances, with 17 shots on target, make him Nantes’ top scorer and top assister in equal measure. He is a volume creator — six big chances created for teammates — but his conversion rate from 62 shots tells a story of a forward who gets into positions without always finishing them. If Nantes are to end this goalless streak, Abline needs to find the net.
For Brest, Kamory Doumbia is the player Nantes will most need to contain. Five goals and three assists in 20 appearances, with 38 shots, eight big chances created, and an average rating of 6.95, make him Brest’s most dangerous and most complete attacking midfielder. He wins duels (96 across the season), recovers the ball (100 recoveries), and creates for others. His last recorded match was in mid-March, and his availability will be worth watching closely. If he is fit and starts, Brest have a player capable of unlocking a Nantes defence that has been content to sit deep.
Joris Chotard provides Brest’s midfield engine. Ranked 25th in Ligue 1 for tackles with 55, and carrying an average rating of 6.89 from 27 appearances, he is the structural backbone of Brest’s midfield. His 899 passes and 34 interceptions suggest a player who does the unglamorous work that allows others to operate. In a match that may be decided by midfield control, the Lepenant-Chotard battle could be the defining contest on the pitch.
Season Stats at a Glance
The individual rankings below underline how evenly matched these two sides are at the top of their respective statistical charts. Nantes’ Anthony Lopes has made 86 saves this season, ranking 10th among all goalkeepers in the division — a figure that speaks to how much defensive work Nantes have been required to do. Brest’s Grégoire Coudert has far fewer appearances to his name.
| Stat | Nantes | Brest |
|---|---|---|
| Top Scorer | Matthis Abline (5 goals) | Kamory Doumbia (5 goals) |
| Top Assister | Matthis Abline (3 assists) | Kamory Doumbia (3 assists) |
| Top Goalkeeper (saves) | Anthony Lopes (86 saves, 10th in Ligue 1) | Grégoire Coudert (6 saves) |
| Top Tackler | Johann Lepenant (62 tackles, 11th in Ligue 1) | Joris Chotard (55 tackles, 25th in Ligue 1) |
| Top Passer | Chidozie Awaziem (1,189 passes) | Joris Chotard (899 passes) |
| Top Chance Creator | Matthis Abline (6 big chances created) | Kamory Doumbia (8 big chances created) |
The symmetry is striking. Both sides’ top scorer and top assister are the same player. Both have produced exactly five goals and three assists from their leading contributor. The difference is in the goalkeeper statistics: Lopes has made 86 saves, which tells you everything about the volume of pressure Nantes have absorbed this season and the defensive shape they have settled into.
Head to Head
In their last three meetings, Nantes have not won once. Brest have taken two wins from those three encounters, with one draw. The most recent fixture, played at Brest in October 2025, ended 0-0 — a result that fits the broader pattern of a Nantes side that has learned to neutralise Brest without ever managing to beat them. For the home side, that record is the backdrop they are trying to rewrite. For Brest, even in poor form, there is the knowledge that this fixture has tended to go their way.
Closing Paragraph
The numbers frame a peculiar kind of tension: Nantes cannot lose, Brest cannot win consistently, and the head-to-head record favours the visitors despite everything the home form suggests. Lopes has made 86 saves this season because Nantes have spent much of it defending; Abline has taken 62 shots because he has been carrying the attacking load largely alone. The question Sunday answers is a simple but pointed one: can Nantes finally convert their draws into something more, or does Brest’s Doumbia remind the Beaujoire exactly why this fixture has so rarely gone the way the home supporters want?