Monaco and Nice will square off at Stade Louis II on Wednesday evening knowing that victory will take either side a step closer to earning European football next season.
As it stands, fourth-placed Nice hold a one-point lead over their opponents who sit in sixth position in the Ligue 1 standings, and both clubs are still in contention for second after Marseille's defeat at Paris Saint-Germain at the weekend.
Match preview
© Reuters
During Philippe Clement's early weeks at Monaco, it appeared that the club's hierarchy had made a blunder with the appointment, which did not initially lead to an improvement in fortunes.
However, since the start of March, five wins have come from six games in Ligue 1, the most recent being recorded last Friday as Monaco ran out 3-2 victors at rivals Rennes.
The Monegasques came from behind to close the gap to their third-placed opponents to three points, keeping the club very much in the mix for the Champions League positions.
Wissam Ben Yedder continued his fine run of form during that fixture, making it four goals in as many appearances, but Clement will be delighted that contributions are coming from all over the pitch.
Remarkably, Monaco's only clean sheet in five matches came at home to PSG, and it is a side of their game which needs to improve during the run-in.
© Reuters
Nice have shown signs of wilting in recent weeks, a four-match streak without success leaving them as outsiders for the runner-up spot behind PSG.
However, their 2-1 victory over Lorient, coupled with Marseille going down by the same scoreline at PSG, have put Christophe Galtier's team back into the mix.
Heading into the derby de la Cote d'Azur, Nice have gone five matches without a win on the road, their last success coming at bottom-placed Metz all the way back on January 23.
Andy Delort scored both goals during the fixture against Lorient, the forward taking his tally to the season to 10, but he requires more assistance from his teammates with Nice's attacking record far worse than each of their rivals.
- W
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- D
- W
- W
- W
- W
- W
- D
- L
- D
- L
- W
Team News
© Reuters
With their last fixture having taken place on Friday, Clement may be prepared to stick with the Monaco starting lineup from the game at Rennes.
Sofiane Diop, who has 10 goal contributions to his name in Ligue 1 this season, was only used as a substitute, but the playmaker could come back into contention.
Despite netting twice in his last three outings, Myron Boadu may have to make do with a spot among the replacements.
Galtier made a raft of substitutions before Nice scored their winner against Lorient, one of the replacements in Kasper Dolberg supplying an assist after his introduction.
The Dane could potentially get the nod over Amine Gouiri in attack, while Morgan Schneiderlin will be considered for a return in midfield after making his first appearance in just under a month at the weekend.
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Nubel; Aguilar, Disasi, Badiashile, Henrique; Fofana, Tchouameni; Vanderson, Volland, Golovin; Ben Yedder
Nice possible starting lineup:
Benitez; Lotomba, Todibo, Daniliuc, Amavi; Stengs, Rosario, Schneiderlin, Kluivert; Delort, Dolberg
We say: Monaco 2-1 Nice
Having rediscovered their winning touch at the weekend, Nice will be confident of earning at least a share of the spoils from what feels like a pivotal match in their campaign. Nevertheless, we cannot ignore Monaco's recent upturn in form, and we think that the home side will edge a highly-competitive contest by the odd goal in three.
Top tip
Darren Plant
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Monaco win with a probability of 66.6%. A draw had a probability of 20.2% and a win for Nice had a probability of 13.17%.
The most likely scoreline for a Monaco win was 2-0 with a probability of 12.7%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (12.68%) and 2-1 (9.61%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.6%), while for a Nice win it was 0-1 (4.79%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 12.7% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole and our data analysis both correctly predicted that Monaco would win this match.
