Preview: Nice vs Le Havre - prediction, team news, lineups

Both Nice and Le Havre can give themselves some breathing room in the battle to avoid relegation when they square off in Ligue 1 action on Sunday at Allianz Riviera.

Last weekend, Nice remained 15th thanks to a 3-1 defeat at Strasbourg, keeping them a point below Le Havre, who drew 1-1 with Auxerre to maintain their 14th place standing.

Match preview

Throughout 2026, Nice have been hovering near the relegation zone with points hard to come by.

Claude Puel has not achieved much in his second stint as their manager, with his side currently just four points above Auxerre in the relegation playoffs.

Outside of a few league matches, this group have struggled defensively in 2026, conceding three or more goals in five of their 12 domestic outings this year.

At home this year, they have yet to win a Ligue 1 game, losing those previous two such matches by a combined margin of 8-0.

Meanwhile, they have given up the second-most goals in the top-flight this season (55), already allowing 14 more than they managed in the entire 2024-25 campaign.

Le Gym are unbeaten in their previous five home meetings with Le Havre, having won their last two Ligue 1 games against them at Allianz Riviera.

As we have become accustomed to seeing over the past few seasons, Le Havre find themselves narrowly clinging to a place in the top-flight once again.

With six matches remaining, Didier Digard’s men are five points above Auxerre in the relegation playoffs, needing four wins to equal their total from last season.

Entering this weekend, this team are winless in six successive league games, failing to score on four of those occasions.

If they can claim seven points from their final six Ligue 1 affairs, Le Havre will exceed their points total from 2024-25 (34).

They are currently riding a four-match domestic losing run away from home, and another defeat this weekend would mark their longest streak without a point in Ligue 1 since returning to the top-flight in 2023-24.

Le Club Doyen could win both top-flight meetings versus Nice on Sunday for the first time since the 2002-03 season after beating the Southern French side 3-1 in late August.

Nice Ligue 1 form:

Nice form (all competitions):

Le Havre Ligue 1 form:

Team News

A knock may keep Kojo Peprah Oppong out of the Nice fold on Sunday, Moise Bombito has a lower leg issue, Everton Pereira is dealing with a sore ankle, while Youssouf Ndayishimiye, Hicham Boudaoui and Morgan Sanson are all suspended.

Antoine Mendy scored a late consolation effort for them last Saturday, his first on the current Ligue 1 campaign.

There is only one injury to report for Le Havre heading into this encounter with Abdoulaye Toure, a question mark as he recovers from a knee problem.

Simon Ebonog scored less than 10 minutes after Auxerre had taken the lead last week, to ultimately earn his team a point with his first strike of the domestic campaign.

Nice possible starting lineup:

Diouf; Mendy, Bah, Bard; Clauss, Louchet, Ndombele, Jansson; Diop, Cho; Wahi

Le Havre possible starting lineup:

Diaw; Nego, Sangante, Seko, Zouaoui; Lloris; Ebonog, Boufal, Gourna-Douath; Ndiaye, Soumare

We say: Nice 0-0 Le Havre

Both teams know they likely cannot afford to come away pointless many more times, and we expect each will be a little uneasy about taking too many chances.

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