Preview: Nice vs. Monaco

Five straight defeats have seen Nice slip to 15th in Ligue 1 ahead of Tuesday's visit of third-placed AS Monaco.

The string of poor results has left them just five points clear of the relegation zone, while the visitors, in contrast, have lost just once this season and trail leaders Paris Saint-Germain by five points.

There are no new injury concerns for coach Claude Puel, with Valentin Eysseric (cruciate) and Kevin Anin still some way from returning to the first-team squad.

Monaco boss Claudio Ranieri has guided the Monegasque club to a draw against Evian and back-to-back wins over Nantes and Rennes since they suffered their first defeat of the season at Lille.

Top goalscorer Radamel Falcao, who is one yellow card away from an automatic one-match suspension, sat out of the midweek win over Les Rouges et Noirs, but is expected to return to the lineup.

The last time that these two sides met was under completely different circumstances back in 2011, with Nice emerging 3-2 winners at Route de Lorient.

Recent form

Nice: WLLLLL

Monaco: DWLDWW

Possible starting lineups

Nice: Ospina, Kolodziejczak, Puel, Pejcinovic, Gomis, Bodmer, Digard, Abriel, Bruls, Pied, Cvitanich

Monaco: Subasic, Fabinho, Kurzawa, Abidal, Carvalho, Toulalan, Moutinho, Ferreira-Carrasco, Rodriguez, Riviere, Falcao

Sports Mole says: 0-3