Two of the hottest teams in Ligue 1 right now will square off on Saturday at Allianz Riviera when Nice play host to Reims.
Le Gym extended their unbeaten run in the league to six consecutive matches with a 3-0 win over Ajaccio last weekend, while Reims are unbeaten in 15 successive domestic fixtures, defeating Troyes 4-0 in their previous encounter.
Match preview
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In his return to the first team of Nice, Didier Digard has worked wonders for the club from the French Riviera as his side won for the fourth straight time in this competition last week.
Their recent form has put them back in contention for a place in Europe next season, trailing Lille for a Europa Conference League spot by four points.
Nice have been solid defensively since their former defensive midfielder replaced Lucien Favre as caretaker manager, conceding just two goals in their previous six league games, including a 0-0 draw at Reims last month.
They are unbeaten at home in this competition since September and have been incredibly dominant at Allianz Riviera this year, defeating their three opponents by a combined score of 10-1.
Les Aiglons have no problem hanging back and taking their chances on the counter, while their pressure in the middle of the field has enabled them to create numerous turnovers and make the opposition pay.
They are pretty challenging to break down when leading, as Nice have not lost a domestic contest this season when drawing first blood.
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Reims continue to flourish under William Still, currently on the longest unbeaten run of their Ligue 1 history and on the second-longest ongoing streak in the top five European leagues behind only Newcastle United (17 games).
It has been a remarkable turnaround for this club, who only captured one of their opening 10 matches in this competition before Oscar Garcia was sacked.
Their current 15-match unbeaten run has come at a price, as the club must pay a fine of £22,000 (£19,549) for every match that Still manages until he gets his UEFA Pro licence.
Right now, it seems like money well spent, as the unpredictability of Les Rouges et Blancs has thrown off their opponents, while their progressive play and wing-back pressing have been a real handful.
Their ability to utilise their wing-backs and create attacking overloads has enabled them to be among the top chance creators in Ligue 1 since the beginning of 2023.
While they have been a much more aggressive unit since Still took charge, they have been relatively tidy at the back away from home all season, conceding a goal or fewer nine times on the road in 2022-23, including four clean sheets.
Team News
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Marcin Bulka is out until late February because of a sore shoulder, Nicolas Pepe, who has six goals for Nice during this campaign, remains sidelined due to a knee injury, while Youcef Atal will not be available for a few weeks with a hamstring strain.
Kasper Schmeichel has posted back-to-back clean sheets at home in this competition, stopping three Ajaccio efforts last Friday, as Dante fired home his first of the campaign and Billal Brahimi notched a second-half brace, helping them claim all three points.
Terem Moffi, who has 12 goals in Ligue 1 this season, is searching for his first at Nice since joining them on loan from Lorient, while Gaetan Laborde failed to find the back of the net last week for the first time in four matches.
Reims' strikers Noah Holm and Mitchell van Bergen are still recovering from knee injuries and will likely miss this upcoming encounter.
With his league-leading 15th of the campaign last Sunday, Folarin Balogun is just the second Englishman to ever reach that mark in this competition over the past 75 seasons, with the other one being Glenn Hoddle at Monaco in 1988-89 (18).
The other Reims goals against Troyes came from Marshall Munetsi, Myziane Maolida and Jens Cajuste, while Yehvann Diouf made two stops for his second successive clean sheet in this competition.
Nice possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Lotomba, Dante, Todibo, Mendy; Diop, Barkley, Ramsey; Laborde, Moffi, Bouanani
Reims possible starting lineup:
Diouf; Foket, Agbadou, Abdelhamid, De Smet; Cajuste, Munetsi; Flips, Maolida, Ito; Balogun
We say: Nice 2-2 Reims
Both of these sides have thrived under new, youthful managers, and there are some potent strikers on each team to contend with, which will make life difficult for the Reims and Nice backlines.
Five of the last six meetings between these two have ended in a draw, and we expect to see another one this weekend, though it could be more entertaining given the talent and confidence of each.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
