Nice vs Marseille preview

September 9, 2016
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Marseille vs NiceThe clash between Nice and Marseille will close Matchday 4 in French Ligue 1 and chances are we will see an entertaining game.

Buoyed by the arrivals of Mario Balotelli and Younes Belhanda, les Aiglons will be looking to extend the promising start to the season.

Nice have seriously raised their profile of late, as the city is no longer just the centre of Cote d’Azur, but also an important place on France’s football map.

Les Aiglons finished the previous league campaign mere two points behind Champions League positions, and will be playing Europa League football this term.

However, they hope to mount another top 3 challenge in French Ligue 1, and they currently sit tied on points with leaders Guingamp and Monaco.

While the club officials were pretty quiet in the summer transfer window, they woke up from the slumber to recruit Mario Balotelli and Younes Belhanda, two players who could seriously improve the current squad.

It remains to be seen whether both will be in the starting line-up against Marseille, where home win is available at 2.40 (7/5).

Lucien Favre is expected to stay true to his 4-3-3 formation, but he is still without Gautier Lloris, Mickael Le Bihan and Maxime Le Marchand.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Cardinale – Ricardo, Baysse, Dante, Dalbert – Koziello, Bodmer, Seri – Plea, Balotelli, Belhanda.

Uncertainty remains word of the day at Stade Velodrome as Marseille cannot find the stability needed to start moving in the right direction.

There was little the club officials could do in the summer transfer window as they had no idea who will be in charge of the club and the team, although they did make things right in the final stages.

After recruiting the likes of Bedimo, Sakai, Cabella, Hubocan, Gomis and Thauvin, OM went on to add Rod Fanni, William Vainqueur and Clinton N’Jie to their ranks as well.

It remains to be seen how quickly the new players will be integrated into the side, but the team have managed to show some signs of promise.

The 2-0 triumph over Lorient certainly lifted the players’ spirits, but Marseille, nonetheless, face a tough task against heavily reinforced Nice.

As far as injury problems are concerned, Abou Diaby, Romain Alessandrini and Henri Bedimo continue to miss out, while Fanni, Vainqueur and N’Jie should all be in contention.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-2-2): Pele – Sakai, Rekik, Doria, Hubocan – Diarra, Vainqueur – Thauvin, Cabella – Gomis, N’Jie.

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