Nice-Paris: The preview
Men's football•
Join us to look ahead to Saturday’s Ligue 1 Matchday 27 game on the Côte d’Azur.
Damien Mittereau
The hosts have been having a tough time of it this season. Currently 15th in the league, Le Gym are fighting against the drop, but their prospects have improved recently. Despite losing 4-0 to Rennes, Claude Puel's men reached the Coupe de France semi-finals with a penalty shoot-out win at Lorient (0-0, 6-5 pens.) before a 2-0 victory over Angers in Ligue 1 last time out.
Paris Saint-Germain remain neck-and-neck with Lens in the title race. The Rouge-et-Bleu had racked up seven straight wins before losing 3-1 to Monaco in their last league game. They still have a one-point lead at the top of the table and a game in hand.
1 – OGC Nice have lost just one of their 7 home games in all competitions since Claude Puel returned.
9 – Paris Saint-Germain have won 9 of their 12 Ligue 1 trips to Nice.
70 – The Rouge-et-Bleu have attempted 70 shots after high ball recoveries in Ligue 1 this season, scoring 13 times. That's 22 more shots than any other team.
In goal, Claude Puel will decide between Maxime Dupé and Yehvann Diouf. The former has been Puel's number one of late, but the latter could start against the Parisians. In front of them, Antoine Mendy and Juma Bah, 19, who is on loan from Manchester City, should start alongside captain Dante, who is now 42 years old.
Youssouf Ndayishimiye returned from injury last week and is another option and could start for the first time since facing Paris Saint-Germain last April. At wing-back Jonathan Clauss (1 goal, 6 assists in Ligue 1) will start on the right with Melvin Bard on the opposite flank.
In midfield, former Montpellier man Morgan Sanson is key, and the ex-Aston Villa player could have Algeria international Hicham Boudaoui for company. Belgium international Charles Vanhoutte is favourite to complete the midfield trio ahead of Salis Abdul Samed and Tanguy Ndombélé. The artful Sofiane Diop (7 goals, 2 assists), who is Nice's leading scorer this season, is a doubt.
It also remains to be seen which formation Puel employs. Elye Wahi will start through the middle, and with Mohamed-Ali Cho and Isak Jansson both injured, Tiago Gouveia, 24, or Kaïl Boudache, 19, could feature, as could Kevin Carlos, who arrived from Basel last summer.