Preview: Nice vs. Nantes - prediction, team news, lineups

Lucien Favre's side were held to a 1-1 draw by Auxerre last time out, while the visitors came from behind to thrash bottom-of-the-table Brest 4-1.

Match preview

Whether Nice head coach Lucien Favre is indeed a man on borrowed time only the Aiglons hierarchy knows, but the 64-year-old is doing his prospects of keeping his job on a long-term basis no favours after his side failed to get the better of Auxerre.

Even without the suspended Dante, Nice lined up in a defence-heavy formation and did initially take the lead through Andy Delort's tap-in at the back post, but Auxerre levelled the contest before half time through Nuno da Costa's header, and there were no more goals to be had.

Having only managed to pick up one win in their last four domestic outings, Nice are languishing in 13th place ahead of gameweek 12 and are closer to the relegation zone than they are to the European spots - just four points separates them from the dreaded dotted line.

The hopes of Favre's side sealing automatic qualification for the Europa Conference League last-16 are also hanging in the balance before they meet Partizan next week, but scoring in each of their last five games in all tournaments does serve as cause for optimism for the faltering Aiglons.

However, only one of Nice's last six matches at the Allianz Riviera has ended in victory, and they have found the back of the net just four times in Ligue 1 action on their own turf this term - a tally that Nantes took 90 minutes to hit against Brest.

Achraf Dari must have wanted the ground at the Stade de la Beaujoire to swallow him up last weekend, as the Brest centre-back was guilty of two fatal mistakes against Nantes, who came from a goal down to beat the league's basement side in convincing fashion.

Noah Fadiga's effort crept into the bottom corner with 18 minutes gone, but Moses Simon blasted home from the spot before Ignatius Ganago robbed Dari of the ball just 46 seconds later to put Nantes in the ascendancy.

Les Pirates' defensive errors did not stop there, as Mostafa Mohamed stole in to make it three for Antoine Kombouare's men before another Dari mistake allowed Moussa Sissoko to finish the job for Les Canaris, who have stormed out of the relegation zone into 14th place ahead of this game.

By ending a barren run that saw them lose four matches on the bounce in all tournaments and go winless in seven, a reinvigorated Nantes side have the chance to leapfrog Nice with all three points this weekend, but they must end a miserable 12-game winless run on the road in order to do so.

Conceding 15 goals and scoring just three in their last five away defeats highlights where Les Canaris' deficiencies lie, but Nantes did get their hands on the Coupe de France crown last year by beating Nice 1-0 in the final, ending a run of four consecutive losses to Les Aiglons.

Nice Ligue 1 form:

L

W

L

L

W

D

Nice form (all competitions):

L

L

W

W

L

D

Nantes Ligue 1 form:

L

L

D

L

L

W

Nantes form (all competitions):

D

L

L

L

L

W

Team News

Nice veteran Dante should come straight back into the rearguard after serving his domestic suspension, with Pablo Rosario - acting as a makeshift defender against Auxerre - set to make way.

Barely 20 minutes after getting his name on the scoresheet, Delort had to be taken off with a sprained knee and will not return until the start of November, meaning that Gaetan Laborde must hold the fort up front alone for the time being.

Marcin Bulka, Sofiane Diop, Hicham Boudaoui and Youcef Atal were also absent from last weekend's game - although none of the quartet should take too much longer to recover from their respective ailments - and Delort's absence should benefit Nicolas Pepe's chances of returning to the first XI.

Meanwhile, Nantes full-backs Fabio and Fabien Centonze remain out of contention with calf and thigh injuries respectively, but Kombouare should otherwise be working with a fully-fit squad for Sunday's contest.

The 46 seconds between Simon and Ganago's goals is the shortest in Ligue 1 since Opta records began, and the duo will expect to provide support to focal point Mohamed in a largely unchanged lineup from last week's thumping win.

Sissoko has put his name into the hat for a start in midfield, but Pedro Chirivella and Samuel Moutoussamy are unlikely to drop out, with Kombouare surely seeing no need to fix what is not broken.

Nice possible starting lineup:

Schmeichel; Dante, Todibo, Viti; Lotomba, Thuram, Lemina, Bard; Pepe, Laborde, Brahimi

Nantes possible starting lineup:

Lafont; Appiah, Pallois, Girotto, Merlin; Chirivella, Moutoussamy; Blas, Ganago, Simon; Mohamed

We say: Nice 1-1 Nantes

Nice are not exactly on cloud nine right now, and their attacking capabilities have taken a hit with the loss of Delort, but Dante's return to the backline could prove invaluable in their defensive efforts.

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