Preview: Lorient vs Nice - prediction, team news, lineups

For the first time in over two years, Nice will pay a visit to Stade du Moustoir on Sunday for a date with Lorient on matchday 14 of the Ligue 1 campaign.

A 1-1 draw at Nantes has the newly promoted side from Brittany sitting 16th, while a slumping Nice slid further down the table to ninth after being thumped 5-1 by Marseille.

Match preview

The victories have been few and far between for Lorient who missed another opportunity to get out of the relegation playoff zone last weekend.

Olivier Pantaloni’s men have dropped six points in the league this season when scoring first, which is currently the difference between 16th and ninth in the table.

They come into this encounter on a seven-match winless streak in this competition, their longest such run since March to May of 2024 (nine games).

At the same time, their only two triumphs in Ligue 1 this season occurred at Stade du Moustoir, where they are unbeaten in their last four games.

Lorient have scored in nine consecutive top-flight outings on home soil, with 13 of their 15 goals this season coming at Stade du Moustoir.

Les Merlus have points in three of their previous four home meetings versus Nice, though they have not won a Ligue 1 contest against them since September 2021 (1-0).

As every week passes, things just keep getting worse for Nice, a side that was expected to contend for a place in Europe at the start of the season.

While they are only four points adrift a place in the Conference League next season, their current form has been far from encouraging over the past few weeks.

The club from the South of France are on a five-match losing run across all competitions, having been outscored by a margin of 14-3 over that stretch.

Franck Haise’s men have lost their last two away matches in this competition by a single goal, and this weekend could suffer three successive top-flight defeats as the visitors for the first time since the 2023-24 campaign.

In four of their six Ligue 1 encounters away from home, Nice have scored a goal or fewer, while 13 of their 23 goals allowed have come as the visitors.

Les Aiglons are unbeaten in their previous five meetings with Lorient, collecting a 1-1 draw the last time they visited Stade du Moustoir in August 2023.

Lorient Ligue 1 form:

Nice Ligue 1 form:

Nice form (all competitions):

Team News

We do not expect to see Lorient skipper Laurent Abergel recover from his muscle strain this weekend, while Igor Silva is doubtful with a sore foot, Bandiougou Fadiga has an ankle problem and Panos Katseris is dealing with a thigh issue.

An injured foot might also prevent Abdoulaye Faye from featuring this weekend, and Trevan Sanusi is unlikely to see the field as he recovers from an ankle sprain.

Chidozie Awaziem netted an own-goal for them in their previous match before taking away two points by scoring the equaliser late in the second half.

Neither Youssouf Ndayishimiye nor Mohamed Abdelmonem will feature for Nice on Sunday as both men are recovering from cruciate ligament injuries, while Dante is doubtful with a knee problem.

Defender Moise Bombito will not return until February from a lower leg fracture, while Hicham Boudaoui remains sidelined with a knock.

Mohamed-Ali Cho scored for a second Ligue 1 match running last week but it was all his team could manage in their lopsided defeat versus Marseille.

Lorient possible starting lineup:

Mvogo; Meite, Talbi, Yongwa; Le Bris, Avom, Cadiou, Kouassi; Pagis, Karim; Soumano

Nice possible starting lineup:

Diouf; Mendy, Bah, Oppong; Clauss, Samed, Sanson, Abdi; Diop; Cho, Moffi

We say: Lorient 1-1 Nice

Morale is pretty low with both clubs at the moment, and we expect to see two rather timid teams afraid of taking too many chances going forward as a result.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.