Nice will look to recover from suffering their first defeat of the season last weekend, when they welcome Reims to the Allianz Riviera on Sunday.

The visitors are also in fine form, but speculation surrounding manager Will Still could be a possible distraction here, as Reims look to maintain a European push.

Match preview

Francesco Farioli's dream start as Nice boss finally took its first bump in the road, as they were beaten 1-0 at Nantes last weekend.

After eight wins and five draws from their opening 13 games, a first mark in the defeats column has not been overly damaging, as they are still only four points behind the might of Paris Saint-Germain.

A remarkable defensive record has been the backbone to their success so far, especially at home, where they have not conceded since the opening day.

Nantes' winner in their last outing ended a phenomenal run without conceding which lasted almost 12-and-a-half hours, helping them towards 10 clean sheets in their last 12 games.

Nice's tally of five goals conceded remains by far the best in Ligue 1 and in Europe's top five leagues, as it is six better than the next best in the French top flight.

However, that 1-0 defeat did highlight where Nice's potential future problems will lie - scoring goals.

Only four teams in the entire division have scored fewer despite OGC sitting second, and that problem bore its head last weekend, as they struggled to breach the Nantes defence.

Reims are likely to provide another stubborn test, especially given Still's success in making the side tough to beat after last season's superb unbeaten run, and in this campaign too, as four of their last five wins have been by one-goal margins.

Still's performances in charge have not gone unnoticed, though, as he is rumoured to be one of the heavy favourites to take the vacant Sunderland job in the Championship.

It is believed the Black Cats wanted Nice boss Farioli but missed the boat, so it may not be too much of a surprise to see that his assistant Julian Sable is also fancied in the running.

After taking over last season, Still made headlines for the unbeaten run even though Reims still finished in mid-table obscurity, but this time they are big contenders to break into the top four.

Should the worst happen and Sunderland manage to convince Still to leave, his departing present could well be matching the club record for league wins in a calendar year, as they are one short of matching their tally from 1976 - where they won 16.

Team News

A broken toe will keep Nice's Sofiane Diop out until the new year, and that injury gave Evann Guessand a chance from the start last weekend, but Gaetan Laborde is likely to come in on the right of a three-man attack.

Youcef Atal remains suspended following his comments made in regards to the conflict in the Middle East, so Pablo Rosario is set to continue to deputise for the Algerian.

Hicham Boudaoui returned from suspension last weekend but was only a late substitute, so he could make a start in midfield ahead of either Khephren Thuram or Morgan Sanson.

Reims are set to be without Marshall Munetsi (sprained ankle) and Josh Wilson-Esbrand (shoulder) for the rest of 2023.

Ibrahim Diakite and Valentin Atangana Edoa are also both absent and could miss the rest of December, so Still may be tempted to stick with the same side that beat Strasbourg last weekend.

Nice possible starting lineup:
Bulka; Rosario, Todibo, Dante, Bard; Ndayishimiye, Thuram, Boudaoui; Laborde, Moffi, Boga

Reims possible starting lineup:
Diouf; Busi, Agbadou, Okumu, Abdelhamid, De Smet; Richardson, Matusiwa, Teuma; Ito, Daramy

We say: Nice 0-0 Reims

With two pragmatic sides who have enjoyed success at keeping things tight and frustrating opposition attackers, there is a high chance that they could cancel each other out here.

Remarkably, five of the last six head-to-heads between these two sides have ended 0-0, with just 19 goals in their last 16 meetings, and a repeat is very possible.


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