Before having two weeks of rest to prepare for the derby, Nîmes Olympique concludes this Wednesday at 7 p.m. its series of eight games in one month in Nice (Canal + Multisports 3). The press of the day agrees for the continuation of the 4-1-4-1 dear to Pascal Plancque, a system in place since his arrival. However, some changes vis-à-vis the suspended and injured are expected in the starting squad.
Renaud Ripart again in the midfield
For this meeting, the suspension of Florian Miguel after his red card against Nantes and the absence of Anthony Briançon should accelerate the return of Loïck Landre: the last appearance of the central defender dates back to the first leg in December. 2020. Revealed since the arrival of Plancque, Kelyan Guessoum should be aligned with him at the expense of Naomichi Ueda. Injured, Sofiane Alakouch leaves his place on the right for Patrick Burner who will return to his former club.
In the midfield, Nîmes still being deprived of Lucas Deaux, confidence is renewed in Lamine Fomba, whose performances have been satisfactory for several matches, and in Andrés Cubas as sentinel. Repositioned axial last Sunday, Yassine Benrahou must return to his position on the right wing according to Free noon. On this position, The team rather sees the tenure of the Swedish Niclas Eliasson.
Disappointing recently, Moussa Koné will be lined up again as a top striker against Nice. Well helped by his goal in the previous match and by the weak competition at the post, the Senegalese striker should recover the place of Renaud Ripart who could regain his position as a relay midfielder.
Finally for this match, Nîmes Olympique sees the return of Antoine Valério, long-injured and who had not been called since February 2020.
Likely team composition of Nîmes Olympique against Nice according to the press : B. Reynet – B. Meling, L. Landre, K. Guessoum, P. Burner – A. Cubas – Z. Ferhat, L. Fomba, R. Ripart (cap.), Y. Benrahou – M. Koné
A Nice team focused on young people
On the Nice side, several notable returns are to be recorded: among them, Youssef Atal, Jordan Lotomba and Kasper Dolberg who should nevertheless start the game on the substitute bench. Deprived of Dante, Reine-Adelaide and Rony Lopes, Adrian Ursea’s players should evolve in a classic 4-3-3 with Amine Gouiri at the forefront and at the head of a very young team (only Schneiderlin, Kamara and Benitez have over 23 years).
???????????? Returns from @JordanLotomba, Youcef #Atal and @Dolbergofficial to face the @nimesolympique ????#OGCNNO #OGCNice pic.twitter.com/pRC4InKjeK
– OGC Nice (@ogcnice) March 2, 2021
Convincing in his last matches, Hicham Boudaoui, coveted by Nîmes in the summer of 2019, should play from the start of the match. Thus, the OGCN could bet on continuity following its last victorious match against Rennes (2-1) and not make any major changes to face the Crocodiles.
Probable team composition of Nice against Nîmes Olympique according to the press : W. Benitez – S. Nsoki, W. Saliba, J. Todibo, F. Daniliuc – M. Schneiderlin (cap.), H. Boudaoui, A. Claude-Maurice – H. Kamara, A. Gouiri, M. Maolida
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