Round 24 in Ligue 1 pits Toulouse against Nice at Stadium de Toulouse on Sunday.
The home side's recent wins have seen them pull slightly away from the relegation places, while Francesco Farioli's team are struggling for goals in 2024.
Match preview
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Toulouse have benefitted from improved results in recent gameweeks, taking them outside the bottom three positions and into 11th in Ligue 1.
The conclusion of the 17th round — when Le Tef lost 2-1 to Monaco — had Carles Martinez Novell's men in 16th, but four wins from their next six league matches have catapulted them into their current position.
Those four victories have matched Le Tef's win tally from their previous 25 Ligue 1 games, underscoring their recent improvement in 2024, and they hope for another positive result against a Nice side they seldom get the better of.
Toulouse are winless in five consecutive home league fixtures against this weekend's opponent, losing twice and drawing three since the 2-0 triumph in November 2015, a sequence of results they seek to change on Sunday.
Novell's men can draw confidence and motivation from picking up 15 points against teams in the league's top half — winning three and playing out six draws from 13 games — outdoing every side in the bottom half of Ligue 1 in that regard.
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As for Nice, title aspirations from the first half of the season have gone down the drain, with Farioli's team struggling to score the odd goal that often decided games during the Eaglets' outstanding start to the 2023-24 season.
Last weekend made it four games out of six in 2024 in which Les Aiglons have not found the back of the net and were probably fortunate to have Marcin Bulka in fine form against Clermont, with the goalkeeper's penalty save to deny Shamar Nicholson just before half time the game's highlight.
Nice's winless run extended to four after the goalless encounter, but the Eaglets have retained their top-four place due to Lille's recent two losses in three wobble — including last weekend's 3-1 defeat to Toulouse.
The away side do tend to keep clean sheets in recent meetings against Sunday's hosts, conceding once in five encounters in all competitions to emphasise their dominance in this fixture.
Whether that continues remains to be seen, but Farioli hopes the recent history in this fixture continues on Sunday as his Nice side seek their first victory in five Ligue 1 games.
Team News
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Moussa Diarra and Mikkel Desler are out with calf injuries, although Denis Genreau (groin) and Zakaria Aboukhlal (knee) are reportedly nearing returns.
Thijs Dallinga and Vincent Sierro have been among the goals in Ligue 1, with the former netting eight times and the latter scoring three times, making them possible match-winners for Toulouse.
Alexis Beka Beka, Morgan Sanson (knee) and Sofiane Diop (foot) are not expected to feature for Nice on Sunday due to their injuries.
Only Gaetan Laborde and Evann Guessand have netted for the Eaglets in 2024, and Farioli needs more of his forwards, like Terem Moffi and Jeremie Boga, carrying the can for the off-form visitors.
Youssouf Ndayishimiye is suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
Toulouse possible starting lineup:
Restes; Kamanzi, Costa, Nicolaisen, Mawissa, Suazo; Babicka, Sierro, Spierings, Gboho; Dallinga
Nice possible starting lineup:
Bulka; Lotomba, Todibo, Dante, Bard; Boudaoui, Thuram, Claude-Maurice; Cho, Guessand, Boga
We say: Toulouse 1-1 Nice
While Toulouse should back themselves to nick another victory over one of Ligue 1's leading sides, the spoils could be shared on Saturday, extending Nice's winless run to five games.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
