Nice are aiming to put the pressure on Paris Saint-Germain this weekend with a meeting away at Rennes at Roazhon Park with the away side sitting in second place in what is turning out to be their best season in a long time.
Nice are adrift of the Ligue 1 leaders and champions by five points but have the best defensive record across all of Europe's top five leagues with a stunning tally of only nine goals going in.
𝐉-𝟑 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞 𝐥𝐚 𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝟏 🦅#OGCNice pic.twitter.com/UhUe4QvGzM— OGC Nice (@ogcnice) January 10, 2024
𝐉-𝟑 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞 𝐥𝐚 𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝟏 🦅#OGCNice pic.twitter.com/UhUe4QvGzM
The second-placed side have, however, scored only 19, but their record of nine let is better than sides like Liverpool, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester City.
The club also edged into the round of 32 last time out in the French Cup to further amp up their season with Nice beating Auxerre on penalties after a dull 0-0 game that saw the club have only three shots on target.
Last time out in the league, they managed to defeat Lens 2-0 where Terem Moffi continued his excellent form with two goals. Both goals came off as he came off the bench and within two minutes of one another.
On the other hand to their excellent form this season, Nice did lose twice during December with a loss away to Nantes and a defeat on the road against Le Havre.
Other results in the past month have seen the club remain in second as a result of beating Reims and Toulouse.
These two sides met back in November where NIce eased to a 2-0 win. Jeremie Boga scored a second half goal that day before Steve Mandanda netted an own goal. Youssouf Ndayishimiye was sent off for Nice, as was Warmed Omari for Rennes.
Things haven't exactly got much better for Rennes ever since that loss with the club dropping into 10th in recent weeks with just four wins on the board from 17 matches - this is six fewer than Nice's tally.
Rennes have let in 13 more goals than Nice up in second, although they have netted four more too.
The club also come into this game on a three-game unbeaten run after a 0-0 draw with Toulouse back in December, a 3-1 win away to Clermont Foot and a round of 64 French Cup victory over Guingamp.
Forebet predicts a win for Nice and for the game to see over 2.5 goals, as they stay on the tail of PSG.