Nice vs Paris Saint-Germain

It’s crunch time for Champions League hopefuls Nice as they take on perennial Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain at the Allianz Riviera. 

European qualification looks like a foregone conclusion for Nice in manager Francesco Farioli’s impressive first season in charge, but it’s uncertain in which competition they’ll feature next term. A four-point cushion on sixth-placed Lens means a positive result in this match-up would seal their berth in the Europa League, but a win could leave them in the Champions League picture, with fourth-placed Brest four points away. Confidence is high in the home camp following a five-match unbeaten league run (W3, D2), bookended by a narrow 1-0 home win against Le Havre last weekend. Back-to-back home league triumphs ‘to nil’ gives Los Aiglons hope that they could defy an underwhelming record of four defeats from their five most recent home meetings with PSG in Ligue 1.

On the other hand, outgoing superstar Kylian Mbappe hoped to wave goodbye to the Parc des Princes in style, only for Toulouse to overturn his early opener and condemn Paris Saint-Germain to a dreadful 3-1 defeat. Three is a magic number, as PSG conceded as many in a 3-2 loss in September’s reverse fixture in Paris, which remains their only loss across their last four H2H encounters against Nice (W3). Luis Enrique’s men come into proceedings amid a rough patch, having lost three consecutive matches for the first time this season. However, they can draw confidence from dropping points only once on seven Ligue 1 travels since the calendar year flipped to 2024 (W6, D1), including multi-goal margin victories in their last four away league matches!