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

Two teams who went through very different 2025-26 seasons will begin their new Ligue 1 campaigns on Saturday as Nice welcome Lorient to Allianz Riviera on matchday one.

Nice survived relegation last season by defeating Saint-Etienne in a two-leg playoff, while Lorient wound up in 10th.

Match preview

By the skin of their teeth, Nice remained in the top flight, needing until the second leg of the relegation playoffs to assure themselves a spot in Ligue 1.

Former Lorient boss Olivier Pantaloni has a big job ahead of him, as he aims to restore some pride in a side that began last season in the Europa League before nearly everything went off the rails.

Giving their fans something to cheer about would be a good start, something we rarely saw from Nice in 2025-26, as they dropped points in seven of their last eight league home encounters.

On Saturday, this team can end an eight-match winless run in the top flight, netting a goal or fewer in each of those contests.

At the same time, they can win their Ligue 1 home opener for the first time since August 2020 when they blanked Lens 2-0.

Les Aiglons can also extend their home unbeaten run versus Lorient to nine matches on Saturday, netting three or more goals in those last two instances.

Pantaloni laid down some strong foundations during his tenure at Lorient, and now it is up to Alexandre Dujeux to try and better him starting this weekend.

The former Angers coach takes over a team that won 11 matches in the top flight a season ago, four more than in their last stint before that in 2023-24.

Lorient can increase their away unbeaten run in this competition to three matches on Saturday and win their opening Ligue 1 outing as the visitors for the first time since August 2022 (1-0 at Rennes).

One of the team’s strongest assets is set pieces, scoring a league-high 14 times in those situations a season ago.

Overall, they struggled in the attacking third away from home in 2025-26, going goalless in nine of their league games as the visitors.

Les Merlus can win their first top-flight away match against Nice this weekend since 2014 (2-1), while they have not lost any of their last three meetings versus Le Gym in normal time across all competitions.

Nice Pre-season form:

Lorient Pre-season form:

Team News

Former Lorient midfielder Laurent Abergel will not be available for Nice on Saturday as he continues to recover from a cruciate ligament rupture, Mohamed Abdelmonem is questionable with a sore ankle and Moise Bombito could be back after missing most of last season due to a left tibia fracture.

Gauthier Hein was among their big summer signings, coming over from Metz, with Nathan Ngoumou joining them from Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach.

Expect to see Theo Le Bris back in the lineup for Lorient this weekend after the midfielder missed some time last season because of a hamstring issue.

Pablo Pagis and Bamba Dieng departed over the summer, leaving Aiyegun Tosin and Mohamed Bamba with a lot of responsibility to score goals for them this season.

Nice possible starting lineup:

Diouf; Clauss, Mendy, Bombito, Abdi; Boudaoui, Pereira; Hein, Diop, Jansson; Orakpo

Lorient possible starting lineup:

Mvogo; Adjei, Talbi, Toure; Le Bris, Cadiou, Fadiga, Kouassi; Makengo, Semedo; Tosin

We say: Nice 1-0 Lorient

Last season should serve as a wake-up call for Nice, who played well below their capabilities, but with a new boss and numerous players returning from knocks, we expect to see more determination from them on matchday one.

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