Nice have an opportunity to move into a tie for first place in Group D of the Europa Conference League with a victory on Thursday against Partizan at Allianz Riviera.
Heading into matchday five, the French side are second after suffering their first defeat of the group stage at Slovacko (2-1) earlier this month, while the Serbs are unbeaten in the competition, defeating Koln 2-0 on matchday four.
Match preview
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One is said to be the loneliest number, and for Les Aiglons, that has kept the heat on manager Lucien Favre, who has seen his side score just a single goal in five of their six matches played this month.
Lately, that has not been enough to earn them much as they are winless in three successive fixtures in all competitions, but they still managed to rescue a single point domestically on Sunday versus Nantes (1-1).
So far in the Europa Conference League group stage, Nice have struck first in each of their last three games but have only triumphed once.
They conceded twice at home to the Czechs on matchday four in the final 15 minutes and failed to hang onto a half-time advantage in Belgrade, drawing Partizan 1-1.
Despite some early struggles domestically, Le Gym have dug themselves out of early relegation danger, currently 12th in the Ligue 1 table with 13 points.
To this point of the 2022-23 campaign, this team have had a hard time creating scoring opportunities during the run of play, with 45% of their goals domestically coming from the penalty spot (5/11), the highest ratio among clubs in the top five European leagues.
They have captured just one of their last seven home games in Ligue 1 but have never lost to a Serbian opponent in Europe, drawing Partizan earlier in the group stage and defeating Red Star 2-1 at the Rio Cup in 1952.
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Parni valjak will travel to France for a European encounter for the first time in over a dozen years this week, knowing that a victory would officially book their place in the knockout stage of this competition for a second successive campaign.
The last time this club played a match in France was at the 2009-10 Europa League group stage, when they were beaten 1-0 by Toulouse.
They are winless in four previous road games against Ligue 1 sides, scoring in only one of those encounters, though it occurred many years ago, in the 1965-66 European Cup when they drew Nantes 2-2.
Following a shock defeat on penalties in the opening round of the Serbian Cup this season, the eight-time SuperLiga champions have gone unbeaten in seven successive matches in all competitions.
Since Gordan Petric took over as manager in August, this team have not suffered a defeat in normal time, while also posting five clean sheets away from home in all competitions.
The 53-year-old, who earned over 100 caps with Partizan in his playing days, has transformed the current edition of this squad into a potent attacking force, scoring three or more goals in over 50% of his matches in charge (nine of 17 games in all competitions).
Since allowing the opening goal versus Nice in the second minute on matchday two, they have not conceded in back-to-back group fixtures, while just two of their seven goals allowed since that draw have come in the opening half.
Team News
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Sofiane Diop scored his first of the competition versus Slovacko, but it was not enough as the Czechs benefited from an 84th-minute expulsion by Jean-Clair Todibo, which ultimately cost Nice that match.
Nicolas Pepe rescued a point for them this weekend against Nantes, scoring from the penalty spot in the 97th minute, Kasper Schmeichel replaced Marcin Bulka in goal on matchday four, while Joe Bryan had the lone strike in their draw versus Partizan earlier in the group stage.
Diop has a hamstring strain, while Andy Delort continues to be hampered by a sprained knee as the two of them, along with Todibo, will be sidelined for this encounter.
Aleksandar Popovic has posted consecutive clean sheets in the Europa Conference League for Partizan, while Fousseni Diabate is tied for first in goals in this competition with four, including the equaliser the last time they faced Nice.
Ricardo Gomes is in a three-way tie for goals domestically with 10 so far this season, two more than Bibras Natcho, who had their opener in a 3-3 draw versus Javor on Sunday.
We saw one change to the Partizan lineup from matchday three to four as Kristijan Belic replaced Andrija Pavlovic, who came on as a second-half substitute in their 2-0 victory over Koln.
Nice possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Bard, Dante, Viti, Lotomba; Lemina, Thuram, Bryan; Ramsey; Pepe, Laborde
Partizan possible starting lineup:
Popovic; Filipovic, Markovic, Vujacic, Urosevic; Andrade, Traore; Diabate, Natcho, Menig; Gomes
We say: Nice 1-1 Partizan
Nice have struggled to find the back of the net, but they have been a lot better when it comes to shutting down the opposition, conceding a goal or fewer in nine of their last 12 matches in all competitions.
The Serbs have been much sharper in the attacking third, although many of those goals have come against some poor defensive units, while they seem to have created a mental block for themselves against French sides.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
