Nice vs Strasbourg prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2023-09-02 15:05.
It’s not been the start new Nice boss Francesco Farioli would have hoped for, with his side still winless in this new Ligue 1 campaign (D3). The home fans made their frustrations clear in last week’s stalemate against Lyon as the players made for the tunnel (0-0), but Farioli could point to the fact that this is only the second time from the last seven seasons that Nice have gone undefeated in the opening three rounds.
Despite that positive spin, there’s no denying the home side will be desperate to get their first three points of the season here, especially to ease the frustrations of their more vocal supporters who have been left uninspired by what they’ve seen from the team so far. Nice would have probably preferred a different opponent with that in mind, as Strasbourg have managed to avoid defeat against them in each of the last five H2Hs (D2, L3).
In contrast, Strasbourg have enjoyed a solid start to the new season, picking up two wins from their opening three Ligue 1 games (L1) for the first time since way back in 1999/00. Their most recent win against Toulouse (2-0) extended a rather curious streak that has seen each of their last ten league matches produce exactly two or three total match goals.
New manager Patrick Vieira will be relatively happy with that start, but Strasbourg are to improve on last season’s 15th-place finish, then improving their away form will be key. Their defeat at Monaco two weeks ago made it just three wins from 15 Ligue 1 away matches (D4, L8) with the last two games in that streak alarmingly seeing them 2-0 down by the half-time break.
Players to watch: While he’s still without a goal contribution, Nice’s Khéphren Thuram has been lively in these opening weeks of the season and was ranked joint-top in the league for shot-creating actions (18) after three rounds. Strasbourg’s Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, on the other hand, has been reaping the rewards for his excellent work so far with two goals and two assists already.
Hot stat: Nice have won just 32% of Ligue 1 games as pre-match favourites since the start of last season (W7, D12, L3).