Preview: Nice v. Paris

A LOOK AT THE TABLE

After celebrating their 12th league title in front of their own fans at the Parc des Princes last Sunday, Paris Saint-Germain head down to the Côte d'Azur this week with nothing at stake except for a desire to get back to winning ways after their 3-3 draw with Le Havre and their rather trivial 3-1 defeat to Toulouse. So far this season in Ligue 1, the capital club have registered 20 wins, ten draws and two losses with 77 goals scored and 32 goals conceded, making them the division's best attack and second-best defence.

For OGC Nice, though, this clash with Les Parisiens will be crucial. Currently sitting fifth on 54 points, Les Niçois still have hope of nicking a UEFA Champions League place after avoiding defeat in each of their last five games and even winning three of them (3-0 v. Lorient, 3-1 v. Strasbourg and 1-0 v. Le Havre). Although their excellent start to the campaign was followed by a less convincing second half, Nice have been looking like a Ligue 1 heavyweight again in recent weeks.

THE TWO TEAMS' CURRENT FORM IN NUMBERS

On Wednesday night, Les Parisiens will be looking to make it 23 away games without defeat in Ligue 1, which is the longest ongoing run of its kind in Europe's top five leagues but is also the longest such streak in the history of the French top flight. As they look to extend this impressive run of form, Paris will be able to draw upon some of their strong past displays against Le Gym, with the capital club having come away from Nice on the winning side on a total of 16 occasions, thereby inflicting on Les Aiglons their highest top-flight loss percentage (41%) against a team that they have faced at least 20 times at home.

Recently, however, the Côte d'Azur outfit have made life difficult for Les Rouge et Bleu. In fact, OGCN have won two of their last four Ligue 1 matches against Paris, which is as many wins as they had managed in the previous 22 top-flight meetings between the two clubs, during which time they fell to 15 defeats and five draws. If they want to get the better of Les Parisiens once again, Les Aiglons will need Terem Moffi to be on top form. The Nigeria international, who bagged himself a brace in the reverse fixture at the Parc des Princes, has scored five goals against Paris in Ligue 1 since making his debut in the division back in the 2020–2021 season. Incidentally, in that time, the Nice centre-forward has been the most prolific goalscorer of any player in France against the capital club specifically.

THE OPPOSITITON'S STRENGTHS

Francesco Farioli mainly sets his team up in a 4-3-3 formation. In goal, Poland international Marcin Bułka has established himself as one of the key players in his side's starting XI, boasting a save percentage of 74.7% in Ligue 1 this season. Ahead of him, France international Jean-Clair Todibo and Brazilian captain Dante form one of the league's top centre-back partnerships, while over on the right, there's a hard-fought battle for a starting spot between promising youngster Antoine Mendy and Switzerland international Jordan Lotomba. On the opposite side, however, there's very little suspense, with Melvin Bard strongly expected to start the encounter.

In midfield, the Italian coach certainly isn't short of options. At CDM, Pablo Rosario has been preferred to Youssouf Ndayishimiye recently, despite the latter's strong performances in the first half of the season. Slightly further up the pitch, Khéphren Thuram and Morgan Sanson are likely to feature at kick-off, as they sit above Algeria international Hicham Boudaoui and playmaker Alexis Claude-Maurice in the Nice pecking order.

In attack, Mohamed-Ali Cho (one goal and four assists across all competitions this season) is in competition with Gaëtan Laborde (five goals, two assists) for a starting place on the right wing. Over on the left flank, meanwhile, Ivory Coast international Jérémie Boga (five goals, four assists) will undoubtedly start, while Sofiane Diop is currently unavailable due to injury. Finally, the aforementioned Moffi (11 goals, two assists) will very probably line up in the centre-forward position at the expense of Evann Guessand (seven goals, two assists), although the latter may well make an appearance later in the game.

So, with strong individual talent in every department, Nice promise to give Les Parisiens a stiff test at the Allianz Riviera tomorrow night.