Ligue 1: Montpellier will probably have to fight with four other teams to save its place

Les positions et le nombre de points de chaque équipe concernée par le maintien. Midi Libre – Infographie Sophie Wauquier

MHSC, which resumes in Lyon on Saturday, will have to play for its place in Ligue 1 against Le Havre, Saint-Etienne, Angers and Nantes. Here is the status of these five teams. 

On May 18, at the end of the 34th day of Ligue 1, there will be two of them relegated to the lower tier. Another club will still have a chance to save its place in a play-off against a Ligue 2 team.

By then, there are 19 days left, the last two of the first leg matches and the entire second leg to move up the standings. Even if the winter transfer window that began on Wednesday, January 1st will have to be taken into account, the survival should be played out between five teams: Nantes, Angers, Saint-Etienne, Le Havre and Montpellier. Overview.

Montpellier: equation with several unknowns

Last with 9 points with the worst defense in the championship (38 goals conceded), MHSC had a catastrophic first half of the season punctuated by a pitiful elimination at Le Puy (4-0), a N2 club, in the Coupe de France. But also a controversial statement from its captain Téji Savanier towards a local supporter. A general behavior and attitude that the club's ultras had already pointed out after the defeat against Toulouse (0-3) during Jean-Louis Gasset's first match as coach.

Back home, replacing Michel Der Zakarian, he managed to remake La Mosson, a stadium where it is difficult to impose yourself with a victory (Brest 3-1) and two draws (Lille 2-2; Nice 2-2) against European teams. Results that give Montpellier the best dynamic among its competitors for survival. But it will take more to save its place in Ligue 1 with no goals scored and no points brought back from away.

We will also have to see how the transfer window will be managed, because if the MHSC passed the meeting with the DNCG without a hitch, it needs to sell before recruiting. Joris Chotard who was due to leave this summer, is said to be in demand by Rennes and Hoffenheim. His other market value Mousa Tamari, reinvigorated since the arrival of Gasset, could also be in demand.

The reception of Angers for the last day away will be essential, just like the sequence in March-April of matches in Auxerre and Angers and the reception of Saint-Etienne and Le Havre. Unless everything is decided on the last day in Nantes…

Le Havre: good against direct opponents

For its second consecutive season in Ligue 1, Le Havre with the 17th budget in the championship, without any major transfers except for the arrival of Didier Digard as coach, is in difficulty with only four wins, no draws and eleven defeats. The positive for Le Havre is that their successes were achieved against direct opponents (Saint-Etienne, Montpellier and Nantes). But that will not be enough to save themselves, especially since HAC is preparing to lose its nugget Steve Ngoura, international U20 striker for €3 million. Perhaps this will help the oldest club to strengthen itself in other positions.

Saint-Etienne: will the Horneland bet work??

Saint-Etienne is, like Montpellier, the only club to have opted for a change of coach in the hope of saving itself. The Norwegian Eirik Horneland having succeeded the former Montpellier player Olivier Dall’Oglio, more in line with the policy of the club’s buyers who arrived the previous summer. But if the former coach of Brann, vice-champion of his country and winner of the national cup, does not receive reinforcements in the winter transfer window, he will not be able to work miracles with a squad composed mainly of Ligue 2 players and youngsters not yet seasoned in L1.

Like MHSC, Saint-Etienne has won its home games and will have to bring back points from away to keep its place.

Angers gets by with its limited means

Fifteenth at the Christmas break, SCO Angers would sign to be in the same position at the end of the championship which would be synonymous with survival. The smallest budget in Ligue 1 (€25 million) has been doing well so far because it has beaten or not lost to direct competitors (Saint-Etienne, Le Havre, Nantes) and managed to take points against Monaco, Marseille, Toulouse and Reims.
The Angevins could recruit if they manage to sell strikers Loïs Diony and Adrien Hunou who weigh on the payroll and have only played in the reserves, in National 3.

Nantes already in action to save its place

In difficulty in the first part of the season (unbeaten after three matches then ten games without a win), the Nantes leaders did not wait long to allow their club to save its place in Ligue 1.
After considering parting ways with Antoine Kombouaré to recruit Sergio Conceiçao or Habib Beye, the Nantes coach has been reinforced by two new assistants, Ahmed Kantari, former Valenciennes coach, and Olivier Blondel who will take care of the goalkeepers.

Changes in the staff but also in the squad, since the former Lyon goalkeeper Anthony Lopes has already arrived to replace Alban Laffont in goal, who is on the transfer list along with Fabien Centonze. It is also said that the former Montpellier player Florent Mollet would not be retained in the event of an offer.