Nice vs Reims prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2023-02-17 16:00.
Nice’s shock Coupe de France defeat to lowly Le Puy-en-Velay in January unexpectedly revived their season as since sacking Lucien Favre afterwards, they’re unbeaten in six Ligue 1 matches (W5, D1), culminating in last Friday’s 3-0 hammering of Ajaccio. They’re now the league’s most in-form side across the last six games and back in contention for European qualification.
Caretaker manager Didier Digard is just 36 but after masterminding that stunning upturn, he must be in with a chance of earning the job permanently, especially after guiding Nice to three consecutive home league wins while scoring an average of 3.33 goals per game. Remarkably though, he’s something of a veteran in the technical area here as they take on Reims.
Their manager Will Still is just 30 and has been a big part of their current 15-match unbeaten run in the league (W6, D9), meaning Reims will likely be content to keep paying a €25,000 fine per game because he doesn’t have a UEFA Pro coaching licence! Beating a Nice side that sits four points above them would arguably be well worth that money as they haven’t beaten the Riviera side since August 2018 (D6, L2).
Reims haven’t scored on any of their last three visits here (D2, L1) but Still has made them into one of the division’s hardest teams to beat, notably drawing 1-1 at PSG as part of an eight-match unbeaten run on the road in Ligue 1 (W1, D7). The last seven of those games produced under 2.5 goals though, so if they do get a result, it might not be thrilling.
Players to watch: Billal Brahimi has scored three goals across Nice’s last two games, on both occasions completing the scoring after the 80th minute. Folarin Balogun’s form has caught global attention as he’s now Ligue 1’s leading scorer with 15 goals after netting five times in his last four league appearances, four of them after half-time.
Hot stat: No team across Europe’s top five leagues has drawn more league games than Reims (12) this term.