Two teams in search of their first victory of this Europa Conference League campaign, will square off on Thursday at Mestsky fotbalovy stadion Miroslava Valenty as FC Slovacko host Nice on Matchday Three.
Les Aiglons failed to hang onto a half-time lead against Partizan, drawing 1-1 in their previous Conference League affair, while the reigning Czech Cup champions have one point from two matches, after falling 4-2 versus Koln.
Match preview
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In what is their first-ever experience at the group stage of any European competition, Slovacko have learned some hard lessons about what can happen when you get complacent.
They got off to a flying start in their opening Group D fixture, taking a 2-0 lead within the opening 20 minutes versus Partizan before running out of steam in the second half and snatching a 3-3 draw.
Versus Koln, they trailed 2-0 at the half and wasted an early flurry in the second 45 minutes, tying the game within the opening 10 minutes before conceding twice and falling into the Group D basement.
Before qualifying for the Europa Conference League last season, this club had not been involved in a European competition since the 2003 Intertoto Cup.
That was the last time this club lost at home in a European fixture, while the three goals which they conceded at Uherske Hradiste in their opening group stage encounter this time out were the first that this team had allowed at home in a European competition since falling 1-0 to Wolfsburg in the third Intertoto qualifying round in 2003.
Martin Svedik's men come into this encounter without a victory on home soil in their previous three matches in all competitions, though they ended a five-game winless run domestically this weekend, blanking Zlin 2-0.
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A season removed from their best domestic campaign since 2016-17, it has been a rough year to date for Lucien Favre in his second stint at the helm of Nice.
After nine league matches, Nice are just a point above relegation with two wins and two draws (eight points), their lowest tally at this stage of a domestic campaign since 2011-12.
Les Aiglons have scored the second-fewest goals in Ligue 1 this season (six) and have not been all that clinical in the final third of this competition, netting only once in both of their draws against Koln (1-1) and Partizan (1-1).
Nice are winless away from home in six successive matches in European competition, with their last road triumph coming in the group stage of the 2017-18 Europa League, when they defeated Zulte Waregem from Belgium, 5-1.
Their Swiss manager is under intense pressure to get results and turn this campaign around, with rumours circulating that Nice owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe is trying to convince former Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain boss Mauricio Pochettino to take over.
When tallying the opening goal in any competition this season, Nice have never lost, and when scoring first, they have only triumphed on one occasion.
Team News
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Jan Kalabiska has a goal in each group stage encounter for Slovacko, as he leads them with three strikes so far at this competition, Milan Petrzela netted his first in their loss against Koln, while Libor Kozak notched the equaliser in their opening draw.
Daniel Holzer and Michal Kohut have each contributed one assist in the Europa Conference League so far this season.
Merchas Doski and Michal Travnik scored in their 2-0 victory domestically this weekend versus Zlin, as Filip Nguyen collected a clean sheet.
We saw a few changes to their starting 11 from matchday one to Two as Tomas Frystak replaced Nguyen in goal, while Travnik and Doski took the place of Holzer and Kozak.
Joe Bryan scored two minutes into Nice's previous group stage match, as he and Andy Delort are the only ones who have tallied for them at this competition, while Gaetan Laborde notched his third in their narrow defeat to PSG last weekend (2-1).
Ross Barkley has yet to feature for Nice in this competition, Sofiane Diop is searching for his first goal since joining Nice from Monaco, Kasper Schmeichel has conceded in every match that he has played in since arriving from Leicester City, and Aaron Ramsey has one goal domestically for them this season.
Bryan will not be available until mid-October with a pulled groin, while Hicham Boudaoui is expected to return around that same time from his back injury.
FC Slovacko possible starting lineup:
Nguyen; Kalabiska, Kadlec, Hofmann, Reinberk; Havlik, Holzer, Travnik; Sinyavskiy, Mihalik, Petrzela
Nice possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Dante, Viti, Todibo, Atal; Thuram, Lemina; Rosario, Pepe, Boudaoui; Laborde
We say: FC Slovacko 1-1 Nice
Slovacko have quality in the attacking third but are inconsistent in that department, while Nice play in the more competitive league, although they have not been quite as sharp creatively or in the final third, so we expect this encounter to be a stalemate.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
