Nicevs.Marseille

Le Gym were dumped out of Europe in sobering style earlier in the week, whilst Les Olympiens have been afforded a full week to dwell on a draw with Strasbourg last time out.

Match preview

Following their return from the winter break at the beginning of January, Nice enjoyed three straight successes across Ligue 1 and Coupe de France, however Sunday's hosts have since suffered back-to-back defeats, denting their ambitions on both the domestic and continental scenes.

Next Thursday's hosting of Bodo/Glimt at Allianz Riviera will be a formality for the French club after a fifth defeat of the League Phase in the Europa League at Elfsborg earlier in the week, when a rotated Le Gym were officially knocked out of the competition due to Gustav Henriksson's second-half effort.

Looking to avoid three straight defeats for the first time since March 2024, Nice are currently occupying fifth spot in the Ligue 1 table, just a single point behind Monaco in fourth, a placement that guarantees a spot in Champions League qualifying for the 2025-26 term.

Whilst they have struggled enormously to pose a threat on the European stage this term, Franck Haise's troops have been sensational on their own patch domestically, with Le Gym unbeaten across eight Ligue 1 home matches (W5,D3), boasting the third-best home record in the division behind PSG and Brest.

A product of Nice's youth setup, Evann Guessand is beginning to blossom into a genuine top-flight star at Allianz Riviera under the stewardship of Haise, with the 23-year-old Ivorian providing 12 goal contributions across 18 Ligue 1 appearances in the 2024-25 campaign.

Marseille extended their Ligue 1 unbeaten run to seven matches last Sunday against midtable dwellers Strasbourg, although it appeared as if the hosts at Stade Velodrome were heading towards a costly defeat in the title race when Emanuel Emegha opened the scoring for the visitors in the first period.

However, after knocking on the door and dominating possession for the remainder of the contest, Les Olympiens were rewarded with an equaliser via the penalty kick of Mason Greenwood, who is now ahead of Bradley Barcola and Jonathan David in the race for the division's Golden Boot.

Last tasting defeat in the league at the hands of Auxerre on November 8, Marseille have propelled themselves up to second position in the Ligue 1 standings, although Roberto De Zerbi's crop are nine points adrift of PSG, with Luis Enrique's side still boasting their invincible status after 18 matches.

Les Olympiens would be marching towards their first top-tier crown since 2010 if the division was decided purely on away records, with the South Coast club winning eight of their nine Ligue 1 contests away from Stade Velodrome, last losing on the road in September.

Whilst familiar faces such as Greenwood, Adrien Rabiot and Neal Maupay running the show for Sunday's hosts so far this term, there is a young talent who is threatening to break onto the first-team scene, with 17-year-old Robinio Vaz making an exciting debut for the club last weekend.

Nice Ligue 1 form:

L

W

D

W

W

L

Nice form (all competitions):

W

W

W

W

L

L

Marseille Ligue 1 form:

W

W

D

W

W

D

Marseille form (all competitions):

D

W

W

W

L

D

Team News

Nice boss Haise decided to rest a number of his star players on Thursday night, with the likes of Marcin Bulka and Tanguy Ndombele set to re-enter the fray this weekend in Ligue 1.

Le Gym are battling on without the services of winger Jeremie Boga, who picked up a thigh injury at the beginning of the festive period.

A crucial attacker for the hosts last season, Terem Moffi is yet to feature this campaign owing a serious cruciate ligament injury sustained over the summer.

Limited to a bench role in recent weeks, Marseille's Elye Wahi is expected to complete a transfer away from Stade Velodrome before the conclusion of the winter window.

De Zerbi has spoken of his desire to bring in a replacement forward, with Les Olympiens currently without Amine Harit due to a calf issue.

Nice possible starting lineup:

Bulka; Clauss, Ndayishimiye, Dante, Abdi; Boudaoui, Ndombele, Cho, Moukoko, Guessand; Laborde

Marseille possible starting lineup:

Rulli; Lirola, Balerdi, Brassier; Henrique, Nadir, Hojbjerg, Garcia; Greenwood, Rabiot, Maupay

We say: Nice 1-2 Marseille

After putting their Europa League dreams to bed on Thursday night, Nice will be looking for a Ligue 1 pick-me-up against Marseille this weekend.

Written by

Carter White

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