Nice vs Lille

One of the fixtures in Ligue 1 this weekend features Nice hosting Lille at the Allianz Riviera in a match that will see two teams which have ambitions of being in the top four when the season grinds to a halt.

They are both on six-game unbeaten sequences in their domestic leagues and were both to stalemates on home territory in European Championship matches during the week.

In theory Nice will be more frustrated of being held on the continent, they are currently unable to get their Europa League campaign off the ground as it were, Thursday’s 2-2 draw against Twente means they have yet to record their first win in this competition.

However, putting into context it must be noted that it was a great equalizer for Franck Haise and his men given their situation.

Nice were 2-0 down, and after cutting the deficit to one, had Sofiane Diop sent off, but the men’s ten wasn’t the end of the game yet as Mohamed-Ali Cho secured the teams’ draw.

It also had OGC increase their total on the European continent, after having been thrashed by Lazio and unexpectedly beaten by Ferencvaros in their two prior games, but it does prolong an unenviable record of one win in 13 Europa League matches, where they’ve lost 10, and be sitting in 31st place, on the very same number of points as first timers RFS.

Domestic form is much better however as Nice look like the biggest threat of breaking into the top four at present, sitting just two points back in fifth.

Next wins which witnessed Haise’s men beat Monaco side that had lost only one game to Strasbourg before the match and then put Champions League play-off controversies, Brest last weekend has seen them push comfortably up the table in Ligue 1 with Evann Guessand scoring in the past two games.

However, Nice has had a lot of draws this season, particularly at home, where four of their six games have finished in a draw, and this matchup is no stranger to a standstill either.

With 18 draws between the two teams, including both from the previous season, this match has ended level more often than any other in the last 20 years.

During the 2022–2023 season, Nice won both at home and away, although it was their only victory over Lille at home in five tries.

Lille will thus be confident in their ability to extend their winning streak in all competitions to eleven games, after they caused problems for another European powerhouse in the Champions League midweek.

The Lille supporters were hoping to add the scalp of Juventus after defeating Real Madrid at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy on matchday two. However, although Jonathan David gave Lille the lead at halftime, Dusan Vlahovic's penalty ended the match 1-1.

Lille, now ranked 14th in the 36-team rankings, is favored to go to the knockout round after winning seven points from a very challenging run of games against Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, and Juventus.

Given their start in Ligue 1, where Lille is in the top four with 18 points and has only lost twice in their 10 games thus far, Bruno Genesio's team appears to be a good bet to return to Europe's top division the following season.

Lille's away performance has been especially strong; they are averaging two points per game away from home, have only let up once in their last five games, and have already maintained three consecutive clean sheets.

Guessand, Jeremie Boga, Jonathan Clauss, and the savior Cho were all kept on the bench for Thursday's match against Twente, indicating that there was plenty of rotation in the Nice squad. All four were anticipated to start.