In-form Nice will look to sign off in style in front of their home fans for the final time this season after what has been an impressive first campaign in charge for manager Francesco Farioli in Ligue 1. Notwithstanding results elsewhere, superior goal difference and a four-point cushion to Lens in sixth spot means that a positive result here should seal a Europa League spot for the hosts, while Champions League football remains a target with fourth-placed Brest four points ahead at the beginning of this round.
It’s been an excellent charge towards the finish line for Nice who are now undefeated in each of their past five league matches (W3, D2). They’d love to continue that run against champions PSG and should take some confidence from the fact that they did get the better of Luis Enrique’s side on the road back in September (3-2), making Nice the only side to have beat them in the league up until this past weekend.
That was PSG’s only loss from the last four H2Hs (W3), which includes some revenge for the Parisians in March’s Coupe de France meeting (3-1). That victory also continued the visitors’ streak of netting 2+ more goals in each of those four clashes, scoring at least once before the break in all of those games, a trend which appears likely to continue here given their league-leading 38 first half strikes this term.
However, their form since becoming champions does cast doubt as to whether they will add to that record further here. Despite the outgoing Kylian Mbappé putting them ahead early on Sunday night, they fell to a 3-1 home defeat to Toulouse to make it four straight competitive matches without a win (D1, L3). The last three in that streak all ended in defeats, with Mbappé’s effort on Sunday acting as their only goal during that losing run.
Players to watch: Jeremie Boga has been loving life in front of the Nice home faithful, netting three goals in his past four matches at Allianz Riviera, whilst Vitinha has opened the scoring in two of PSG’s last three away league matches.
Hot stat: Across Europe’s traditional big five leagues, only Serie A’s Torino (eight) have conceded fewer home league goals than Nice (nine).
