Buoyed by their impressive victory against Lille, Saint-Etienne will head to Allianz Riviera to face Nice on Friday on matchday five of the 2024-25 Ligue 1 season.
The hosts currently sit 12th in the table with four points, while the visitors secured their first points of the campaign with a 1-0 win against Lille last time out, leaving them in 16th.
Match preview
© Imago
Following an underwhelming ninth-placed finish in 2022-23, Nice would have been delighted with how they performed in the first half of the 2023/24 season.
The Eaglets kickstarted the season with a fantastic 13-game unbeaten run, followed by just three losses in the following seven outings, leaving them in second place on matchday 21.
However, a defeat on matchday 21 to AS Monaco marked the start of a steep decline in form that saw Nice fail to win in five consecutive league games, resulting in them dropping into sixth place.
Despite a slight recovery in the closing stages of the campaign, winning four and drawing three of their final nine fixtures, Nice would have been deeply disappointed to finish just fifth after their phenomenal start to the season.
Manager Francesco Farioli added to the club's frustration by moving to Ajax, with former Lens boss Franck Haise stepping in to replace him ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Haise endured a mixed pre-season at Nice, drawing three, winning one, and losing one of their five friendly fixtures, and that inconsistent form has seemingly carried over into the start of the Ligue 1 campaign.
Nice have collected just four points from their first four matches, with a win against Angers and a draw with Toulouse, while suffering defeats to Auxerre and, most recently, Marseille.
While Haise's men were defeated by Marseille last time out, they were the dominant team throughout the 90 minutes, and the manager will be looking for a similar performance with improved clinical finishing when they host St Etienne on Friday.
The hosts are sure to be favourites heading into the game against the newly-promoted visitors, although the Greens will be boosted following their surprise victory against Lille last weekend.
The Greens looked unlikely to be in a promotion battle when they found themselves sitting 10th in the Ligue 2 table on matchday 18, but the appointment of Olivier Dall'Oglio saw the side rapidly climb the standings.
Dall'Oglio lost just four of his 21 league matches in charge of the side, lifting them to a third-placed finish and a place in the playoffs, which they eventually won 4-3 on aggregate in the final.
St Etienne faced an extremely tough return to Ligue 1, suffering defeats in all three of their opening matches and failing to score in each game as they lost to AS Monaco, Le Havre and Brest.
They brilliantly secured their first points of the season last time out, holding on to a sixth-minute goal from Mathieu Cafaro to defeat Lille 1-0, moving them up to 16th in the table.
Dall-Oglio will be hoping his side can achieve a similar upset when they travel to face Nice on Friday, a fixture in which they have won only once in their last seven visits to the Allianz Riviera.
- L
- D
- W
- L
- L
- L
- L
- W
Team News
© Imago
Nice will be without Gaetan Laborde due to a foot injury that is expected to keep him out of the side until November, while Hicham Boudaoui and Morgan Sanson are also set to miss out with injuries.
Terem Moffi will remain on the treatment table until at least April 2025 after the Nigerian suffered a cruciate ligament injury in August, meaning Evan Guessand is likely to remain upfront.
The hosts will be boosted by the return of Moise Bombito, who is back available after serving his one-match suspension following his dismissal in the 65th minute of their 4-1 victory against Angers.
St Etienne are heading into this game with a host of injuries, with up to seven players expected to be unavailable for selection by Dall'Oglio.
Anthony Briancon, Augustine Boakye, Ibrahima Wadji and Mahmoud Bentayg are all anticipated to be out of the side, although all four are likely to make their return later this month.
Thomas Monconduit and Yvann Macon are both set to remain on the sidelines for a longer period of time, with neither likely to make an appearance until at least November.
Benjamin Bouchouari is yet to make his first appearance of the campaign, but the midfielder could feature from the bench, having been named amongst the substitutes last time out.
Nice possible starting lineup:
Bulka; Ndayishimiye, Bombito, Dante; Clauss, Rosario, Ndombele, Bard; Cho, Guessand, Boga
Saint-Etienne possible starting lineup:
Larsonneur; Appiah, Batubinsika, Abdelhamid, Cornud; Davitashvili, Moueffek, Ekwah, Amougou, Cafaro; Stassin
We say: Nice 2-0 Saint-Etienne
Nice may have struggled for results in the opening phase of this campaign, but they will be strong favourites against a Saint-Etienne side that have scored just once this season, suggesting the hosts will win this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
