Nice will visit Clermont in the Ligue 1 knowing a win would take them to the top of the table. Les Lanciers defeated Lyon 2-1 in their first home game of the season on matchday nine a week ago. Les Aiglons are the only team in the league without a loss after overcoming Marseille 1-0.
Preview (Clermont vs. Nice)
After nine games, Clermont finally has a win after taking down Olympique Lyonnais for the third time in their previous five top-flight encounters. This has given the team some hope that they may climb out of their current situation. Pascal Gastien’s team is currently four points behind Lens for Ligue 1 survival and three points behind Metz. Clermont has been much more reliable of late, going three games without a loss since losing 2-1 to Le Havre. Their match against Montpellier was suspended with CF63 down 4-2. Clermont had only one point from their first six league games.
After failing to score in three straight games played at Stade Gabriel Montpied in this competition, Clermont is still yet to win at home in the domestic league. Their last home victory in Ligue 1 came in May 2023 (2-0 vs Lorient). Although they have never lost four straight home games in the top division, this team has never finished a Ligue 1 season with just five points as of this writing in 2023–24. Despite having had a somewhat disappointing domestic season thus far, Clermont has had great success against Nice, winning three of their four meetings in the top league.
Nice’s start to the Francesco Farioli era has been about as well as the squad could have wished for. They are now one point behind the league leaders in Monaco. This club has been difficult to break through defense in their first nine domestic games. They keeping four straight clean sheets and giving up the fewest goals in Ligue 1 so far (four). Le Gym won their last three away games in their home country by a single goal. A victory on Friday would be their first four-game winning streak on the road in Ligue 1 this century. This club is hoping to win this week and avoid losing for the thirteenth time in a row. They haven’t lost a home game since May 2023 (2-0 at Strasbourg).
Team News
Joel Armougom, who has a thigh problem, is questionable due to an unidentified ailment. Neto Borges is suspended, so Clermont may be without them on Friday. In their previous meeting, they defeated Lyon thanks to goals in the first half from both Mohamed Cham and Yohann Magnin. When they played Nice in this competition previously, the home team won 1-0. Mory Diaw stopped four shots to preserve a clean sheet.
Youcef Atal has been suspended for seven matches following a social media post voicing support for Palestine. However, the sanctions do not take effect until October 31. Farioli made one change to his starting lineup from matchday eight to matchday nine. Morgan Sanson started in place of Khephren Thuram. Les Aiglons may be without Sofiane Diop for this encounter as the Frenchman is still recovering from a thigh injury. Nice defeated Marseille thanks to an equalizer from Evan Guessand in the 79th minute. Meanwhile, Marcin Bulka just needed to make one save to record his fourth consecutive clean sheet of the season, and his sixth overall in Ligue 1.
Both Terum Moffi and Gaetan Laborde, who also scored in their 3-2 triumph over Paris Saint-Germain, have failed to score in their last four domestic games after scoring a brace in that match. Clermont has been playing much better lately. We think their current winning streak against Nice will come to an end this weekend. The visitors have a stingy defense and are skilled at winning close games.
Clermont 0 – 1 Nice
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