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

Nantes can equal their longest winning run in Ligue 1 from last season when they travel to Allianz Riviera on Saturday for a date with Nice.

Both sides are in the bottom half of the table, with Les Aiglons losing 3-1 to Le Havre the last time out and the visitors defeating Auxerre at home by a 1-0 score.

Match preview

It has been an inconsistent start to the season for Nice, who have looked like a different team home and away in their first few matches thus far.

Away from home, they have yet to collect a point this season, but at Allianz Riviera, this side have won four of their previous five league contests dating back to the previous campaign.

Defensively, they have conceded a goal or fewer in their previous five home matches in this competition, while scoring a combined 13 times themselves over that stretch.

A defeat this weekend would already give Franck Haise’s men more at home in this competition than they suffered all of last season (one).

It would also equal their longest losing run in Ligue 1 from a season ago and would mark their worst start to a top-flight campaign after four matchdays since 2022-23 (two points).

The last five times that they have drawn first blood in league play, Nice have come out on top, while they have yet to claim a single point domestically this year when conceding the opener.

All three of their matches thus far have been right there for the taking, but at last Nantes wound up on the winning end at home to Auxerre in late August.

It was the first victory for Luis Castro as head coach, and on Saturday, the former Benfica youth boss can guide his new team to consecutive wins domestically for the first time in over a year.

Doing so would also end a three-match winless run away from home for Nantes in this competition, with this side netting a goal or fewer in each of those instances.

After three matchdays this season, La Maison Jaune have scored the fewest goals in the top-flight (one) but conceded the fewest as well (two).

The club from Pays de la Loire have won five consecutive league matches when scoring the opening goal but lost their only two this season when conceding first.

Les Canaris are unbeaten in their last seven matches versus Nice across all competitions, winning three of those previous four away games by a single goal.

Nice Ligue 1 form:

Nice form (all competitions):

Nantes Ligue 1 form:

Team News

A knee issue kept Dante out of the Nice lineup the last time around, Youssouf Ndayishimiye and Mohamed Abdelmonem are recovering from cruciate ligament tears, while Tanguy Ndombele and Ali Abdi sat out with groin strains.

Moise Bombito and Mohamed-Ali Cho sat out due to knocks, while Kojo Peprah Oppong had the only goal against Le Havre, his first since signing for the French side in the summer transfer window.

Meanwhile, for Nantes, Fabien Centonze missed the match versus Auxerre as he was dealing with a knock and has yet to feature in the league this season.

Mostafa Mohamed had the opening goal of that game after only eight minutes, and Anthony Lopes made four stops to collect his first clean sheet with his new club.

Nice possible starting lineup:

Diouf; Mendy, Bah, Oppong; Clauss, Boudaoui, Diop, Bard; Jansson, Boga; Moffi

Nantes possible starting lineup:

Lopes; Amian, Awaziem, Tati, Cozza; Hyun-seok, Coquelin, Lepenant; Benhattab, Mohamed, Abline

We say: Nice 1-0 Nantes

The international break should allow Nice to be well-rested and refocused for this match, and they have been very resilient after a tough outing since Haise took charge.

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