This top four clash between Nice and Lille is one of the top fixtures in this weekend’s French top flight as Nice look to close the gap on their visitors who currently sit top of Ligue 1 two points ahead of 2nd placed PSG.
Nice are still likely to be licking their wounds after they were subjected to a heavy 6-2 defeat away from home at German Bundesliga side, Bayer Leverkusen, in the Europa League and the hosts appear to be going from the frying pan into the fire as they now entertain Ligue 1 leaders, Lille, at their Allianz Riviera this Sunday.
On the domestic front, Nice started well enough with Patrick Vieira’s side winning back-to-back matches against Lens and Strasbourg to hand them a perfect start to this new Ligue 1 campaign but inconsistency has crept in in their subsequent matches.
Back-to-back defeats against Montpellier and PSG in a 3-1 loss on the road and 3-0 loss at home respectively, along with a 0-0 draw at Bordeaux pegged Nice back in what was a disappointing sequence of results but they’ve since registered wins over Nantes and Saint-Etienne.
Lille, by contrast, enjoyed a hugely successful midweek 4-1 romp away from home against Sparta Prague in their opening Europa League match and the visitors will be brimming with confidence following that rousing victory.
The visitors have also continued on from where they left off at the end of last season’s Ligue 1 campaign which saw them win their final three matches on the trot into this new term as they still remain unbeaten after the first seven matches of this new season.
Five wins out of these first seven matches have helped lift Lille into top spot in the French top flight and two points ahead of perennial champions, PSG, while results away from home have also improved for Christophe Galtier’s side too.
Lille are unbeaten in their last six matches on their travels in Ligue 1 and this impressive sequence of results include winning five of these, keeping four clean sheets into the bargain.
In addition, Lille are unbeaten in their last two meetings against Nice and their contrasting fortunes in midweek to their hosts, Nice, might just swing the balance in Lille’s favour here.