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

Marseille can temporarily move into the top spot in Ligue 1 with a victory on Friday versus Nice at Allianz Riviera in Southern France as matchday 13 of the campaign gets underway.

Coming into this contest, Nice sit ninth in the table, losing 2-1 at Metz before the international break, while OM are two points back of Paris Saint-Germain for first, following a 3-0 win against Brest.

Match preview

Little to nothing is going the way of Nice lately, with this team in the middle of a three-match losing run across all competitions, failing to earn a single point this month.

Franck Haise has seen his side begin strongly in November but fade as a match wears on, losing their last two competitive fixtures despite netting first both times.

They will be happy to be back home, where they have won their last two league fixtures and are unbeaten in five straight domestic affairs this season.

Dating back to the last campaign, this team have won seven of their previous nine home matches in this competition, losing only once over that stretch (1-0 to Toulouse).

Under Haise, this side have never lost three successive contests in this competition, and a defeat on Friday would mark the first time this team have done so since April 2023.

Le Gym have emerged victorious from their previous two home matches against OM, failing to concede a single goal in either of those outings.

Europe has not been kind to them of late, but Marseille have regained their form domestically, and are currently right on PSG’s tail for first place.

Roberto De Zerbi’s men enter this matchup on a three-game unbeaten run in Ligue 1, without a single goal allowed in the top-flight this month.

Three of their last four away matches in the league ended with this side collecting maximum points, with Marseille conceding a goal or fewer in all three of those triumphs.

Over a third of the way through the season, Les Olympiens are on 25 points, two more than they accumulated at this stage of the previous top-flight campaign.

While they lead the league with 28 goals scored, only six of those strikes have come away from home, as this team have failed to find the back of the net in two top-flight encounters as the visitors this season.

While they have points in two of their previous three meetings with Nice, only one of their last six meetings against them in Southern France ended with the visitors collecting maximum points (3-0 in 2022).

Nice Ligue 1 form:

Nice form (all competitions):

Marseille Ligue 1 form:

Marseille form (all competitions):

Team News

On the Nice side, Youssouf Ndayishimiye and Mohamed Abdelmonem are out with cruciate ligament injuries, Dante will miss this game with a knee issue and Moise Bombito will be sidelined due to a lower leg problem.

Mohamed-Ali Cho put his side in front 10 minutes before the interval against Metz, but his first goal of the Ligue 1 campaign was not enough to earn them anything on matchday 12.

Meanwhile, for Marseille, Ruben Blanco (knee) and Bilal Nadir (head) could be nearing a return, Amine Gouiri (back), Nayef Aguerd (groin) and Hamed Traore (leg) are questionable, while Ulisses Garcia is eligible to return from suspension.

Angel Gomes, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mason Greenwood each found the back of the net versus Brest, with the latter now up to eight goals in the league this season, one behind Strasbourg’s Joaquin Panichelli for first.

Nice possible starting lineup:

Diouf; Mendy, Bah, Oppong; Clauss, Boudaoui, Sanson, Abdi; Diop; Boga, Cho

Marseille possible starting lineup:

Rulli; Pavard, Egan-Riley, Palmieri; Lirola, Hojbjerg, O’Riley, Garcia; Gomes, Greenwood; Aubameyang

We say: Nice 1-0 Marseille

Haise has had a lot of time to fix what has been going wrong at Nice, and we trust that his side will be stingier at the back as they have often been at home, frustrating a Marseille team desperate to get ahead of PSG.

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