Nice vs Le Havre Preview: Team News & Prediction

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Nice have been inconsistent and frustrating since the appointment of Franck Haise over the summer and the pressure is on a bit as they welcome an indifferent Le Havre side to the Allianz Riviera this weekend.

Kick-off date/time: Saturday 7th December, 2024: UK – 6:00pm / US ET – 1:00pm / US PT – 10:00am

How to watch on TV: UK – Not televised / US – beIN Sports

How to watch online: UK – Ligue 1 pass / US – beIN Sports

Nice Preview: Haise’s Nice

It was seen as quite a coup for Nice to poach Lens boss Franck Haise but the southerners have underwhelmed a little bit as the home team begin this weekend’s round of fixtures sitting outside of the top five. They were in good form until a few days of humiliating results within the last ten days.

That began with a 4-0 hammering at the hands of Rangers in the league phase of the UEFA Europa League at the Allianz Riviera before they then travelled to Lyon and suffered a 4-1 loss to Olympique Lyonnais last weekend thanks to a hat-trick from Alexandre Lacazette as well as a goal from Jordan Veretout.

Le Havre Preview: Digard’s Le Havre

Over the summer, Le Havre lost manager Luka Elsner to Stade de Reims after Le Havre had impressively avoided relegation in their first season back in the top-flight in over 15 years. He was replaced by former Middlesbrough midfielder Didier Digard and performances have been relatively strong but results have remained average.

Those results continued last weekend as they suffered a 1-0 loss to fellow strugglers Angers at Stade Oceane in their most recent outing last weekend. The visitors had doubled their victories with two wins in their previous three matches before that loss to Angers but they remain third from bottom ahead of this weekend’s round of fixtures.

Nice Team News: Lots of issues

Nice are dealing with lots of injury issues ahead of their clash with Le Havre, especially defensively, as the likes of Dante and Jonathan Clauss remain sidelined.

As well as those defensive injury issues, the southerners are also missing players across the park such as former Aston Villa midfielder Morgan Sanson and former Chelsea forward Jeremie Boga.

Predicted XI (4-3-3): Bulka; Louchet, Moise Bombito, Abdelmonem, Nandjou; Boudaoui, Rosario, Ndombele; Cho, Guessand, Diop

Unavailable: Dante (Injured), Bard (Injured), Clauss (Injured), Mendy (Injured), Abdi (Injured), Sanson (Injured), Ndayishimiye (Injured), Boga (Injured)

Questionable: 

Le Havre Team News: Several injuries

Le Havre are dealing with several injury concerns for this weekend but none of them are new so they would be able to name an unchanged eleven for this one.

Those injury issues include experienced players such as Andy Logbo and Oussama Targhalline as well as key men like Arouna Sangante, Yann Kitala and Oualid El Hajjam. 

Predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Desmas; Pembele, Kinkoue, Lloris; Casimir, Kuzyayev, Toure, Operi; Sabbi, Soumare; Ayew

Unavailable: Logbo (Injured), Sangante (Injured), Kitala (Injured), El Hajjam (Injured), Targhalline (Injured)

Questionable: 

Nice vs Le Havre Prediction

Franck Haise is a good coach and he has a very impressive squad to work with but Nice have underperformed in the last ten days. That shock couple of results does mean they should get a reaction back in front of their home crowd. Le Havre have perhaps flattered themselves by picking up four victories so a Nice win and potentially a good win as they try and get supporters back on side, looks a good bet for this one.

Nice vs Le Havre Tip: Nice to win