A top six clash in the French top flight on Sunday afternoon sees hosts, Nice, pit their wits against visitors, Strasbourg, in this Ligue 1 clash at the Allianz Riviera with both teams eager to collect the all-important three points here.
Nice secured a valuable point last time out in the domestic top flight thanks to holding runaway league leaders, PSG, to a 0-0 draw away from home at the Parc des Princes but recent results have produced a mixed bag of returns for Sunday’s hosts.
🎙️Galtier: "A good performance" #PSGOGCN ➡️https://t.co/BI6chtyL6T pic.twitter.com/jyoWAfcAbw— OGC Nice 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@ogcnice_eng) December 2, 2021
🎙️Galtier: "A good performance" #PSGOGCN ➡️https://t.co/BI6chtyL6T pic.twitter.com/jyoWAfcAbw
Victories against Lyon, Angers and Clermont have been tempered by defeats to Troyes, Montpellier and Metz and having managed to win just one of their last four matches overall in the French top flight, Nice have dropped down to 4th place as a result.
Results at home have also suffered in recent times as Nice are without a win from their last three outings, drawing 1-1 with Marseille before suffering back-to-back defeats against Montpellier and Metz respectively.
It may therefore be prudent to look at the goals market for this clash with Strasbourg especially as Nice possess dangerous forwards, Gouiri (8 goals) and Delort (5 goals) up front, but the hosts will be without forward Guessand and defender Robson-Bambu through injury.
Strasbourg lifted themselves up into 6th place in the Ligue 1 standings after recording an emphatic 5-2 home win against Bordeaux in midweek which also extended their unbeaten run in the French top flight to five games.
A 4-0 home win over Lorient was followed by draws with Nantes 2-2, Reims 1-1 and a 1-1 draw with Monaco but the majority of Strasbourg’s success has been achieved on home turf at their Stade de la Meinau where they’ve won five of their six matches played to date in this season’s campaign.
However, despite Strasbourg’s success on home soil the visitors have tended to struggle on the road as they’ve managed to pick up just one win from their last seven games on their travels, which was a narrow 1-0 win at Lens.
Again, the goals market seems to beckon as five of Strasbourg’s seven away games have resulted in both teams scoring and this trend could well continue on Sunday afternoon with both teams chasing all three points.