Preview: Nice vs. FC Slovacko - prediction, team news, lineups

A week ago, Les Aiglons won their first game of this competition 1-0 over the Czechs, who are bottom of Group D with just a single point.

Match preview

We are finally seeing signs of progression from Nice, who have put together three solid outings in October, winning their last two fixtures by a single goal.

Lucien Favre, who has come under fire for this team's rough beginning to the campaign, going without a win in their first four matches in all competitions, has gradually gotten them back on track.

At the moment Nice are 13th in the Ligue 1 table, with 11 points after narrowly edging Troyes 3-2 this past weekend.

That was the first time that Le Gym had scored multiple times in a Ligue 1 fixture this season, netting two more goals over those 90 minutes than they had in their opening four home games domestically.

In their first three outings at the group stage of this competition, Favre has counted on a solid defensive corps who have stifled their opponents, conceding the third-fewest goals (two) thus far, and posting their second clean sheet at the Europa Conference League last week.

It was the first time in seven outings against Bohemian opponents that Les Aiglons had come out on top and the first time in which they had managed to hold a side from the Czech First League off the scoresheet.

Le Gym are undefeated in all competitions this season when scoring the opening goal, though they have dropped four points from winning positions heading into the second half, including on Matchday Two when they drew Partizan 1-1.

Home field has been anything but an advantage for Slovacko this season, who have failed to claim victory in six consecutive outings in all competitions at Uherske Hradiste, including back-to-back losses to Nice and Bohemians 1905 (4-2).

On the road is where they have looked more comfortable of late, claiming at least a point in two of their last three contests in all competitions, winning their previous away fixture domestically, 2-0, over Zlin.

They have not started well on the road in recent outings, though, scoring only one first-half goal in any away encounter since the beginning of September.

In five previous meetings against clubs from France, Slovacko have only captured one victory, claiming just a single point in their two previous visits, but scoring zero goals over in those encounters.

Martin Svedik has not seen his team score in the opening half since an injury-time strike on September 11 when Slovacko drew 1-1 in league play versus Mlada Boleslav.

The eight goals which they have conceded so far in this competition is the second-most in the group stage, although two of their last three shutouts since August have come away from home.

Nice Europa Conference League form:

L

D

D

D

W

Nice form (all competitions):

W

D

L

L

W

W

FC Slovacko Europa Conference League form:

W

W

D

L

L

FC Slovacko form (all competitions):

D

W

W

D

L

L

Team News

Nicolas Pepe has winning goals in back-to-back games for Nice, including last week versus Slovacko when Mario Lemina set him up and Marcin Bulka made four stops for the clean sheet.

On Sunday, Mattia Viti notched his first for Les Aiglons since joining them from Empoli during the summer transfer window, Ross Barkley has yet to feature in the Europa Conference League, while Jordan Lotomba and Alexis Beka Beka have not seen the field since their opening group stage fixture at this tournament.

Favre made three changes to his starting 11 from Matchday One to Two as Bulka replaced Kasper Schmeichel in goal, Melvin Bard began on the back end instead of Joe Bryan and Sofiane Diop took the place of Rares Ilie in an attacking midfield role.

Goalkeeper Jiri Borek was red-carded in the 13th minute for Slovacko this weekend, forcing his manager to bring on Filip Nguyen in place of Filip Vecheta early on.

Vlastimil Danicek and Petr Reinberk each found the back of the net in their defeat to Bohemians on Sunday, the first for Reinberk this season.

Svedik made several changes to his starting lineup against Nice last week compared to the team that began in their 4-2 defeat at Koln as Nguyen, Michal Tomic, Jan Kalabiska, Ondrej Sasinka and Daniel Holzer were all in the starting 11 on Matchday Three.

Nice possible starting lineup:

Bulka; Todibo, Dante, Bard; Boudaoui, Rosario, Thuram, Barkley; Pepe, Delort, Laborde

FC Slovacko possible starting lineup:

Nguyen; Tomic, Hofmann, Kadlec, Doski; Travnik, Havlik; Danicek, Kohut, Holzer; Sinyavskiy

We say: Nice 1-0 FC Slovacko

Look for another patient and cagey affair on Thursday between these sides, but ultimately, we expect Nice to squeak out another victory because they have momentum on their side, and their squad is a little deeper and more experienced than the Czechs.

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