For the 50th time in Ligue 1, Montpellier HSC and Nice will square off on Sunday at Stade de la Mosson, with the club from Occitania seeking to dig themselves out of the league basement.
A 2-0 defeat versus Lens last Sunday kept La Paillade five points below the relegation line, while the club from Southern France maintained their sixth-place standing thanks to a 2-1 triumph over Le Havre.
Match preview
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After beginning the month with a hard-fought come-from-behind 2-2 draw at home to Lille, we saw a familiar site for Montpellier last weekend.
Under new manager Jean-Louis Gasset, this team have won just one of their six domestic affairs, failing to find the back of the net on four of those occasions.
With a mere eight points after 14 league games, it is the fewest this side have ever accumulated to this stage of a top-flight season, putting them in danger of being relegated for the first time since 2003-04.
All of their points in the competition this season have occurred at Stade de la Mosson, and on Sunday, they can increase their home unbeaten run to three matches.
Montpellier have conceded 36 goals domestically thus far, the most of any French side after 14 top-flight fixtures since Nice gave up 39 at this stage of the 1978-79 season.
Meanwhile, 17 of the goals allowed by La Paillade have occurred in Occitania, the most they have given up after seven top-flight home contests since 2020-21 (14).
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Heading into matchday 15 of the domestic campaign, Nice are narrowly holding onto a Europa Conference League berth next season but are also nearing a place in the top four.
Only three points currently separate Les Aiglons from fourth-place Lille, though eighth-place Auxerre are behind them by that same margin.
Their final two competitive fixtures of 2024 take place away from home, and this team have suffered consecutive competitive defeats outside Allianz Rivera, while all of their losses in the competition this season have come as the visitors.
This team have suffered just one defeat in their previous 10 Ligue 1 contests, though this week, they are in danger of losing consecutive domestic away matches for the first time all season.
Franck Haise has got the best out of this bunch in the attacking third, with Nice netting 26 times so far, their second-highest tally after 14 top-flight games this century behind the 2015-16 team (30).
Le Gym have picked up at least a point in four consecutive away matches against Montpellier across all competitions, eliminating them from the Coupe de France round of 16 in February (4-1).
Team News
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This weekend, Montpellier may be without Yanis Issoufou and Birama Toure, who are dealing with knee issues, while Khalil Fayad and Lucas Mincarelli are recovering from unknown injuries.
A knee injury to Boubakar Kouyate will likely keep him on the sidelines this weekend, and Tanguy Coulibaly must sit out once again through suspension.
Issiaga Sylla scored his first of the season in their previous home contest, with the equaliser coming courtesy of Arnaud Nordin, his team-leading fourth of the campaign.
Numerous Nice players will be unavailable this weekend with Morgan Sanson and Antoine Mendy suffering from sore ankles, while Ali Abdi, Youssouf Ndayishimiye and Mohamed-Ali Cho have hamstring strains.
We do not expect to see Dante until early January as he recovers from a meniscus problem, Victor Orakpo is out with a hernia injury, though Mohamed Abdelmonem may be back after missing last weekend because of an illness.
Gaetan Laborde converted a second-half penalty to put them in front against Le Havre before Badredine Bouanani notched the winner 15 minutes from the end.
Montpellier HSC possible starting lineup:
Lecomte; Tchato, Sagnan, Kouyate, Omeragic; Ferri, Chotard, Bares; Savanier; Adams, Nordin
Nice possible starting lineup:
Bulka; Louchet, Rosario, Bombito, Nandjou; Diop, Boudaoui, Camara; Bouanani; Laborde, Guessand
We say: Montpellier HSC 0-1 Nice
The Montpellier backline are so unstable and unpredictable that we believe even a tired Nice side, who played in Europe earlier this week, will eventually find a breakthrough.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
