Lille take on the visitors Nice in the round 18 match of French Ligue 1. The match will be played on Friday, January 17th at Stade Pierre-Mauroy (Villeneuve d'Ascq).
"Lille" plays on a tight schedule. Last season, the Doegs lost the dispute with the sensational upstart - "Brest". As a result, Paulo Fonseca from 4th place ensured his charges return to the Champions League, albeit in the qualification. But they started there without the Portuguese, who showed himself so unsuccessfully in the new season at Milan. His successor, Bruno Genesio, is doing well: having knocked out Mourinho's Fenerbahce and Prague's Slavia in the qualification, he entered the main round of the Champions League with his new charges - and they have already managed to collect 13 points. They are playing relatively successfully in the domestic arena - 2024 ended with 28 points and in 4th position. In January, there was a goalless draw with "Auxerre". And in the cup with "Marseille" they managed to go further through a penalty shootout.
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"Nice" under the new owners could not justify the optimistic forecasts and, most importantly, satisfy the ambitions of investors. In this regard, the last season was not bad, bringing 5th place. True, on the other hand, Farioli and his charges went higher for a long time, but did not strengthen there. Now the Italian is in "Ajax", and his successor, Frank S, frankly failed in the Europa League: only 2 draws with 4 defeats. And there are problems in the domestic arena. In the cup with "Corte" from the semi-amateur 5th division, they knocked out only on penalties, in Ligue 1 there are many misfires. But, on the other hand, competitors are not more stable, so in general, having won against "Rennes", it was possible to get to 4th place at a minimum distance. And in 2025, they managed to win Reims in the championship and Bastia in the cup.
In November, the clubs played 2-2 on the Cote d'Azur, and this is already the third draw in a row, and a productive one, between the clubs. Although it is worth remembering that in this way the "eagles" extended their unbeaten streak to 5 matches. The "dogs" are not bad, but the guests also have their trump cards. The "eagles" will not lose.
Prediction for the match: Nice not to lose (X2).
