Nice can temporarily move into first-place in Ligue 1 when they travel to Stade Gabriel Montpied on Friday to face relegation-threatened Clermont.
On matchday nine a week ago, Les Lanciers won their first domestic affair of the season, 2-1 over Lyon, while Les Aiglons are the only unbeaten team in the league, defeating Marseille 1-0 in their previous encounter.
Match preview
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It took them nine matches, but at long last, Clermont are in the win column, defeating Olympique Lyonnais for the third time in five top-flight fixtures.
That has given this side some hope that they can dig themselves out of their current hole, with Pascal Gastien's men three points behind Metz for a relegation playoff berth and four back of Lens for Ligue 1 salvation.
After claiming just a single point from their opening six league fixtures, Clermont have been a lot more consistent of late, without a defeat in three competitive matches since losing 2-1 to Le Havre, while their game against Montpellier was suspended with CF63 behind 4-2.
Clermont are still searching for their first home victory of the new domestic campaign, failing to score in three successive matches played at Stade Gabriel Montpied in this competition, with their last Ligue 1 home triumph coming in May 2023 (2-0 versus Lorient).
They have never been shut out in four successive top-flight home fixtures, but with a mere five points thus far in 2023-24, it is the fewest this club have ever accumulated to this stage of a Ligue 1 campaign.
While their domestic season has been relatively unsuccessful so far, Clermont have enjoyed much success against Nice, winning three of four encounters against them in the top flight.
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The Francesco Farioli era at Nice has begun about as well as the club could have hoped, with this team just a point behind arch-rivals Monaco for the league lead.
Through nine domestic fixtures, this team have been tough to penetrate defensively, posting four successive clean sheets and conceding the fewest goals in Ligue 1 thus far (four).
Le Gym will enter this encounter having won their previous three domestic away matches by a single goal, and a triumph on Friday would mark their first four-match road-winning run in Ligue 1 this century.
This team have not lost a domestic game since May 2023 (2-0 at Strasbourg), and if they can avoid defeat for a 13th successive time this week, it would match their longest unbeaten run in this competition since 2016 (13 from May-October).
With five wins in their last six league fixtures, Nice have as many victories as they had managed in their previous 18 top-flight affairs before that.
To this point of the domestic campaign, Nice have never trailed for a single minute, though they have squandered four points when leading in the second half, playing Lille and Lorient to 1-1 draws to begin the campaign.
Team News
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On Friday, Clermont could be missing Yoel Armougom, who has an issue with his thigh, Jeremie Bela is questionable because of an unknown injury and Neto Borges is out through suspension.
First-half strikes from Muhammed Cham and Yohann Magnin enabled them to defeat Lyon in their previous encounter, while both players are currently tied with Cheick Oumar Konate for the team lead in goals this season (two).
The last time they hosted Nice in this competition, an early strike courtesy of former midfielder Saif-Eddine Khaoui was enough for the home side to win 1-0, with Mory Diaw stopping four shots to collect a clean sheet.
Les Aiglons could be without Sofiane Diop for this encounter as the Frenchman is still recovering from a thigh injury, Youcef Atal has been suspended for seven matches after a social media post voicing support for Palestine, though the sanctions do not take effect until October 31, while Farioli made one change to his starting 11 from matchday eight to nine as Morgan Sanson came into the lineup in place of Khephren Thuram.
A 79th-minute strike from Evann Guessand was enough for Nice to get past Marseille, while Marcin Bulka only had to make one stop for his fourth successive clean sheet and the sixth for him in Ligue 1 this season.
Since notching a brace in their 3-2 victory over Paris Saint-Germain, Terem Moffi has not scored in his last four domestic encounters, nor has Gaetan Laborde, who also netted in that encounter.
Clermont possible starting lineup:
Diaw; Pelmard, Ogier, Seidu; Konate, Keita, Gastien, Magnin, Allevinah; Boutobba, Cham
Nice possible starting lineup:
Bulka; Lotomba, Todibo, Dante, Bard; Boudaoui, Ndayishimiye, Rosario; Laborde, Moffi, Guessand
We say: Clermont 0-1 Nice
Clermont have performed much better in recent weeks, but we believe their good form versus Nice will end this weekend as the visitors possess a stingy backline and they have learned how to win close encounters.
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