Unsurprisingly, things are not very tight at the top end of the 2023/24 Ligue 1 table. However, at the bottom end, they are!

Five teams are separated by just four points after 21 match weeks, and the below visualisation highlights how teams have moved up and down the table over the course of the campaign; we’ve highlighted the five teams most heavily entangled in the relegation battle.

In 14th place is Toulouse (20 points), who are also currently competing in the UEFA Europa League knockout rounds after winning the Coupe de France last season and finishing second in their group. Their position on the league table is largely down to their horrible form in the first half of the campaign when they won only two of their 17 games. With only 20 goals scored, just two teams have scored fewer.

Immediately below Toulouse on the table is Montpellier (19 points). If Montpellier are to stay in the Ligue 1 for next season, they have to maintain the standard of their defensive performances.

With the best goal difference (-6) among the five teams in the relegation battle, Montpellier will quickly want to start finding wins, with only one win in the league from their last 12.

Lorient, who finished 10th in the table last season, are 16th now largely because of their defensive record. They have conceded the most goals in the league and have the joint-second worst goal difference in the league. Lorient, however, are unbeaten in their last three games with two wins and will want to continue that momentum; their fate could still be decided on the last day when they meet fellow relegation contenders Clermont Foot, but Lorient would naturally prefer not to be in that position.

The bottom two are Metz and Clermont Foot, the latter of whom sit rock bottom on 16 points. After an impressive eight-place finish last season, they have struggled for goals this season and could be the first side confirmed for the drop this season.

Metz, however, after seven straight losses, finally got a point away to Marseille and will hope this is the start of a move in the right direction.