Relegation threatened At the Stade de la Meinau on Saturday, Strasbourg will welcome Nice in an effort to get closer to Ligue 1 safety.
The Eaglets’ result over Rennes kept them in ninth place in the standings while last week’s win over Nantes helped them get away from the bottom four.
Match Preview
Strasbourg has been in excellent form lately, as seen by their ascent out of the four teams relegation zone following a run of three victories from four Ligue 1 games (L1). After his team defeated Nantes 2-0 last week, coach Frédéric Antonetti voiced his happiness, saying, “It feels good to have won.” With that victory, their chances of being demoted from the first division dropped to just 5.1%, according to Stats Perform.
At the end of the season, Strasbourg has improved significantly at Stade de la Meinau, winning all four of their home league victories in 2022/23 in their previous six games (L2). All those victories may have come against teams currently in the bottom half of the standings, but a four matches winning streak versus Nice (W2, D2) should demonstrate that a successful outcome is still feasible.
Despite scoring back to back victories, Nice may come to rue a seven matches losing streak in Ligue 1 between March and April (D4, L3) as they are still eight points outside of the European spots. Even though the team’s “unstoppable spirit” was praised by Coach Didier Digard following their 2-1 victory over Rennes last weekend, such a gap with only four games remaining appears practically impossible to close.
With only one loss in their past eight away games (W4, D3), the Eaglets have been successful on recent league trips, but they have struggled to triumph in Strasbourg, where they have only done so twice in their last 15 visits (D6, L7). Therefore, Nice’s journey won’t be simple, especially considering their most recent road loss was to Brest, who, going into this weekend’s games, are tied with Strasbourg in terms of points.
Habib Diarra, a talented 19 years old prospect for Strasbourg, has been in excellent form lately, having assisted in four of his team’s previous eight goals (G2, A2). Gatan Laborde (G12), the leading scorer for Nice, is the only player with at least nine goals in Ligue 1 who hasn’t scored in the first 30 minutes.
Team News
Despite Strasbourg’s injury concerns, Antonetti is not anticipated to alter the 3-4-2-1 strategy that has led to their recent success.
Ismael Doukoure, Morgan Sanson, and Eduard Sobol all left the game against Nantes with injuries, and they are all questionable for gameweek 35.
Thomas Delaine, Ibrahima Sissoko, and Gerzino Nyamsi, who have been missing since last month, should not be there.
As Nice looks for three straight victories in Ligue 1, Digard is anticipated to rely on the majority of the starting from the previous weekend.
After sitting out the victory over Troyes, Jean-Clair Todibo returned to center back. The 23 years old is expected to partner Dante at the defense’s core.
As the Super Eagle looks to add to his 17 Ligue 1 goals this season, Moffi should start at the head of the Eaglets’ attack.
Strasbourg possible starting lineup
Sels, Perrin, Djiku, Le Marchand, Dagba, Aholou, Prcic, Guilbert, Diarra, Bellegarde and Diallo.
Nice possible starting lineup
Ramsey, Boudaoui, Thuram, Lotomba, Todibo, Dante, Bard, Schmeichel, Bouanani, Moffi and Laborde.
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We predict: Strasbourg 1-1 Nice
Since a 2-0 victory in August 2020, Nice has lost all four of its games against Strasbourg, and this streak is predicted to endure for five matches.
Even though the hosts come into the match with three victories in their previous five home games, the team with the fourth best away record in Ligue 1 should prevail at La Meinau.