Nice – Lorient

Nice are trying to get back into the top three. Can they beat Lorient?

Nice and Lorient have important tournament objectives at different levels. Lorient is trying to avoid the relegation zone and the zone of the knockout stages. It ranks 16th in Ligue 1 and is just three points above the relegation zone and four above the relegation zone. So every point is crucial for the Bretons. And Nice, who have been second in Ligue 1 for a long time, are now trying to get back into the Champions League zone or not lose their position in the European competitions at all, as they have already slipped to sixth place. This is due to Nice's unlucky streak of not winning for four consecutive rounds. In the last match, Nice were unexpectedly thrashed 0-3 by Lans. In doing so, it lost through penalties to Dante and Lemina. Before that, Nice drew with Rennes (1-1) at home, and earlier lost to Marseille (1-2) and drew with Montpellier (0-0). This all came after a brilliant win over PSG at home. It is worth noting that of their last four matches, Nice have played three away and many of the circumstances in those encounters were not ideal for the Eagles. But in the end, Nice are now relegated to sixth place in Ligue 1, eight points behind second place and five points behind third. So, in principle, the situation is remediable, but you need to pull yourself together and not lose points. Especially against the outsiders. What gives hope to Nice is the fact that the match is at home. Prior to the draw with Rennes, the Eagles had won four games in a row in all competitions at home. In total, Nice have seven wins at home with four defeats and four draws. Lorient have a modest away record: nine defeats, five draws and just two wins. However, Lorient defeated Nice 1-0 in their first leg match on home soil. But that was back in September. Nice have a very good selection of players in attack. Although the team have suffered losses in defense, Delors, Dolberg and Kluivert are still in attack. The club's top scorer in Ligue 1, Gouiri, will also be in action, with ten goals. Lorient's top scorer, Moffy, has seven goals under his belt. His appearance on the pitch is also expected. In the last round against Saint-Etienne he scored a double. But then the whole team shone and won 6-2. At the same time, they conceded two first-half goals.