Nice are looking for a return to winning ways after losing to Paris Saint-Germain at the weekend, and les Aiglons have a good chance to get one over their relegation rivals. Dijon, on the other hand, recovered from two successive defeats to beat Brest at home and are now hoping to get at least one point from this clash.

Nice showing improvement

Having spent last few years fighting for survival, Nice are determined to avoid similar scenario this term and the team look more than capable of avoiding the relegation race. While keeping hold of their key players Mounier, Ospina, Civelli and Mouloungui, the club management significantly reinforced the squad over the summer, with Monzon, Abriel, Meriem and Pentecote all playing an important part at the start of the season. Coach Eric Roy obviously needed some time to get his team up and running, so nobody was surprised with several poor results at the start of Ligue 1 campaign, but just as we predicted, les Aiglons have shown a massive improvement of late. Besides recording victories over Toulouse and Ajaccio, Nice showed a lot of promise in defeats to Montpellier and Paris Saint-Germain, and as long as they keep the standard of performances at this level, les Aiglons should have no problems beating Dijon at home.

Coach Eric Roy will have to assign a new penalty taker as Luciano Monzon, who already converted three penalties, is suspended, whereas Clerk and Sable are doubtful with ankle injuries.

Dijon doing well

Even before the season started, Dijon were seen as one of the main candidates for the drop, but the newly promoted side have done much better than they hoped for. Fothe heavy defeats to Rennes and Toulouse were followed by back to back wins over Lorient and Evian, whereas Dijon also managed to make it to the next stage of Coupe de la Ligue by beating Valenciennes. The good run was ended with the home defeat to Lyon, whereas the 4:0 loss at Valenciennes had a very negative effect on the squad. Patrice Carteron’s side did manage to beat Brest in midweek, but that is hardly a big achievement considering that their opponents played more than an hour with ten men on the pitch. The team now prepare for the trip south knowing that their poor away record doesn’t give them much to hope for, especially seeing that Nice are doing really well at the moment.

Defender Steven Paulle returns from suspension, but Abdoulaye Meite is still banned. Important midfielder Florin Berenguer is unlikely to feature.

Verdict

Nice have been showing a lot of improvement lately and they look more than capable of escaping the bottom half of the table. Dijon are largely struggling on the travels and I really doubt they have the required quality to get something from Stade Municipal du Ray.

Our prediction: Home win

Odds: 2.00 (1/1)

Bookmaker: Ladbrokes