Nice vs Lille

Mid-table Nice and top-three hopefuls Lille are set to trade tackles in a handsomely-looking Ligue 1 contest at the Allianz Riviera.

Nice parted company with long-serving manager Lucien Favre following a 2-1 defeat at Rennes at the start of 2023, handing Didier Digard an interim charge. The 36-year-old caretaker manager has repaid the club’s trust by delivering four points in his first two Ligue 1 games at the helm (W1, D1), including a scintillating 6-1 romping of Montpellier on his home debut. After losing three of their first four home matches in 2022/23 (D1), ‘Les Aiglons’ have gone unbeaten in their last five league outings on home turf (W3, D2), alternating between winning and drawing on each occasion. Their home resurgence could go on, considering they’ve suffered just one defeat in their last ten top-flight encounters against Lille at the Allianz Riviera (W4, D5).

On the other hand, visiting Lille thumped bottom-half Troyes 5-1 at home last time out to snap a frustrating run of back-to-back league stalemates and extend their unbeaten streak in Ligue 1 to six matches (W3, D3). However, the visitors sit eight points behind third-placed Marseille at the start of this round, meaning a failed attempt to defy their underwhelming three-game away league form (W1, D1, L1) could rule them out of the Champions League qualification race. Conceding first could make things worse, with Paulo Fonseca’s side losing four out of six Ligue 1 games when falling behind this season (W1, D1). But ‘Les Dogues’ can draw inspiration from thumping Nice 3-1 in this corresponding fixture last season.