Nice vs PSG: Match preview
PSG travel to the south of France to face Nice this Sunday, and this is set to be an exciting match.
Nice made a flying start to last season. They were competing for the top position in the table for several months. Their first defeat of the campaign didn’t come until December. A disastrous run of form from January onwards led to Francesco Farioli’s dismissal in the summer.
He has since been replaced by Franck Haise. Farioli enjoyed a successful four-year run at Lens, but he hasn’t been able to hit the ground running with his current club. Nice earned a 0-0 draw away at Lens last weekend.
PSG lost Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid in the summer. The forward netted 27 goals as his team won Ligue 1 last season, finishing eight points ahead of Monaco. Many questioned how the Parisians would perform without their star player, but the initial signs are promising.
Luis Enrique is in charge of an exciting project in the French capital. He has a wealth of young talent at his disposal and things are developing nicely. This possession-hungry PSG team is capable of beating anyone.
They are expected to continue their dominance in the domestic league, but it will be interesting to see if they can get over the line in the Champions League.
PSG have dropped just two points this season, meaning they are at the top of the league, ahead of Monaco on goal difference. Luis Enrique’s side is yet to taste defeat in a competitive match this season.
Nice, on the other hand, have struggled for consistency. They have picked up just two wins in their seven competitive matches.
The Parisians did the double over Nice last season and have won on six of their last seven visits to this ground. Over that period, they conceded an average of just 0.57 goals per game during that impressive run in Nice.
Barcola Continues to Step Up
Bradley Barcola is one of the players who has stepped up to fill the goal void left by Kylain Mbappe. The winger has netted three goals in his last three league appearances for PSG.
The young French winger has scored six goals in as many matches in Ligue 1. He netted a brace in the 3-1 win over Rennes last weekend and seems set for a bright future.
Barcola has a non-penalty xG of 0.47 per 90 minutes played in the last 12 months, meaning he ranks in the top 7% of wingers across Europe’s top five leagues. Be sure to take a look at Bradley’s impressive start to the season.
Nice Can Trouble PSG’s Defence
Franck Hiase’s team have scored in their three competitive home matches so far. That includes an emphatic 8-0 win over St. Etienne. Both teams have scored in their other two games at the Allianz Riviera.
Despite PSG’s domestic superiority under Enrique, maintaining clean sheets has proven challenging. They have recorded a clean sheet in only one of their six league matches this season.
Both teams have scored in four of the last five head-to-heads between PSG and Nice. Those matches have seen 3.4 goals on average, 1.2 for Les Aiglons and 2.2 for the reigning champions of France.
Match Prediction: Nice 1-2 PSG
Credit: Goal.com