Reims can stretch their unbeaten run to 11 consecutive matches domestically when they welcome Nice to Stade Auguste-Delaune for a Ligue 1 affair on Sunday.
Both sides are even with 24 points, with Les Aiglons slightly ahead on goal difference despite winning just one of their previous four league fixtures.
Match preview
© Reuters
A change in management seems to have been what the champagne club that is Reims needed to get their top-flight campaign on the right track.
Under William Still, Reims look reinvigorated, currently on their second-longest unbeaten run in Ligue 1 in 60 years, with their previous best being 13 matches without a defeat between December 2018 and March 2019.
The Belgians' infectious positivity has lifted the energy of this club, with the 30-year-old interim boss changing to a 4-2-3-1 formation, which has been highly effective.
They have captured three successive domestic home fixtures, as many as in their previous 17, while another one this weekend would equal the longest winning run for them at Stade Auguste-Delaune in this competition since October-November 2014.
However, Les Rouges et Blancs have not triumphed over Nice in a domestic encounter at home since the 2013-14 campaign, losing this exact fixture 3-2 a season ago.
After 18 league games, Reims have allowed the fewest goals among sides in the bottom half of the table (23) and have not given up more than one strike in this competition since drawing Troyes 2-2 at the beginning of October.
© Reuters
He was on the hot seat seemingly for months, and last week the metaphorical axe finally dropped on Lucien Favre as his now former team exited the Coupe de France with a 1-0 defeat versus third-tier side Le Puy Foot 43 Auvergne.
The managerial debut of Didier Digard with the first team could not have gone better as Le Gym clobbered Montpellier 6-1, their largest margin of victory in a domestic affair since defeating Bordeaux by that same score in the 2015-16 Ligue 1 campaign.
In that victory on Wednesday, Nice broke their record for shots on target (10) and expected goals (2.87) in a top-flight game this season, managing only three targeted efforts in each of their previous three Ligue 1 contests.
They have not triumphed away from home at this competition since late October, and thanks to their victory earlier this week, Nice avoided their worst start to this stage of a top-flight campaign since 2014-15.
Les Aiglons have kept three clean sheets in their last four meetings with Reims in the top flight, though they also failed to find the back of the net three times.
In 68 Ligue 1 fixtures against them, Nice have come out on top 25 times, making them the team with the second-most head-to-head triumphs versus Reims in this competition, behind only Saint-Etienne.
Team News
© Reuters
Marshall Munetsi fired home just his second of the campaign on Wednesday, helping Reims to a 1-0 victory over Ajaccio.
In that encounter, Yehvann Diouf picked up his first clean sheet since November, while Martin Adeline and Kaj Sierhuis each had a brace when they defeated Loon-Plage 7-0 at the Coupe de France last weekend.
Kamory Doumbia had one of their goals when they lost to Nice last season, Folarin Balogun, who is tied for third in Ligue 1 with 10 strikes, has not found the back of the net in his last two league fixtures, while he had a brace and Alexis Flips scored once in their previous home victory, 3-1 over Rennes.
Nathanael Mbuku remains on the sidelines because of an unknown problem, while Noah Holm is out until mid-February due to a knee injury.
Nicolas Pepe and Ross Barkley each had a brace for Nice when they defeated Montpellier, with the other goals coming courtesy of Khephren Thuram and Andy Delort.
Delort had a hat trick in their previous visit to the champagne region, helping his side erase a 2-0 deficit and win 3-2, while Kasper Schmeichel has conceded a goal or fewer in two of his last three domestic encounters.
Marcin Bulka has a sore shoulder, while Youcef Atal is not expected back until the end of the month from his ankle injury.
Reims possible starting lineup:
Diouf; De Smet, Abdelhamid, Agbadou, Foket; Matusiwa, Munetsi; Cajuste, Flips, Ito; Balogun
Nice possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Lotomba, Todibo, Dante, Bryan; Barkley, Ramsey; Pepe, Thuram, Diop; Laborde
We say: Reims 1-0 Nice
Managerial changes have had an early positive effect on both sides this season, but Still seems to have built a system at Reims which looks sustainable, while one match with Nice is not enough information to suggest things have transformed under Digard.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
