AC Ajaccio vs Nice prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2022-09-10 13:00.
AC Ajaccio’s ineptness in the transfer market continues to haunt them after successive defeats to Montpellier (0-2) and then at home to Lorient (0-1), both of whom finished in the bottom half of Ligue 1 last season. When considering that nine of the ten previous Ligue 1 seasons saw the team sitting in 20th place after six rounds go on to be relegated, including Ajaccio’s fierce rivals GFC Ajaccio in 2015/16, the scale of their challenge appears enormous.
Manager Olivier Pantaloni recently chalked up 450 competitive matches in charge of Ajaccio as a manager, and now faces a Nice side who he represented as a youth team player in the 1980s alongside both GFC and AC Ajaccio. Pantaloni has already bucked off the threat of relegation at least once in his managerial career, taking AC Ajaccio from 17th after six rounds to a finish of 16th in 2011/12 despite failing to defeat Nice (D1, L1) on both occasions, and has vowed he and his side will “continue to work hard and not let go” in their bid to stave off relegation.
Nice have plenty of issues of their own to contend with, but their future prospects appear brighter. Defeat at home to Monaco (0-1) condemned Nice to their lowest points tally after six Ligue 1 games in a decade, but Lucien Favre’s side could be playing catchup for some time yet as they integrate 13 summer signings into the squad.
That wealth of signings includes household names such as Kasper Schmeichel, Nicolas Pépé and Aaron Ramsey donning the famous red and black. How long it will take Favre in his second stint at Nice to bring them all together remains to be seen, but a trip to Corsica away from the farce of midweek home crowd troubles prior to their 1-1 UEFA Europa Conference League draw against Cologne may be a welcome escape.
Players to watch: Ajaccio need more from winger Riad Nouri, who scored goals in four separate home victories last Ligue 2 season. Similarly, Andy Delort has now scored goals in Nice’s last three Ligue 1 away wins.
Hot stat: Ajaccio have conceded the opening goal in a Ligue 1 match within 30 minutes four times already this season.