Nice will be looking to recover from their crushing opening-day Europa League defeat to Bayer Leverkusen when they welcome Hapoel Be'er Sheva to the Allianz Riviera for Thursday's encounter.
In contrast, the visitors opened their European campaign with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Slavia Prague prior to this week's Group C clash.
Match preview
© Reuters
While Nice have started to see their results improve domestically, the Ligue 1 outfit were simply no match for Bayer Leverkusen in their inaugural match of the 2020-21 Europa League last week.
Indeed, the Bundesliga powerhouses stormed to a 6-2 victory against Patrick Vieira's men, who may have felt quietly optimistic about getting something from the game after going into half time behind by just one goal, but Leverkusen came out all guns blazing in the second period to condemn Nice to their heaviest defeat of the season so far.
However, Les Aiglons will head into their showdown with Hapoel Be'er Sheva with a sense of belief after Nice managed to take a point off of early high-flyers Lille at the weekend, with Kasper Dolberg opening the scoring before Burak Yilmaz levelled for Lille nine minutes later.
With Leverkusen expected to come out on top in Group C, the fight for second spot is very much on for a Nice side who have not played in a knockout match in this competition since the 1973-74 UEFA Cup, but Hapoel Be'er Sheva are not a side to be taken lightly given their strong start to proceedings.
© Reuters
Hapoel Be'er Sheva enjoyed a terrific run to the group stage as they overcame Dinamo Batumi, Laci, Motherwell and Viktoria Plzen in the qualifying rounds, and the Israeli side maintained their 100% record in the Europa League with a 3-1 victory over Slavia Prague last Thursday.
With both sides seemingly destined to take a share of the spoils heading into the dying embers of the match, Elton Acolatse popped up with a late brace to secure all three points for Hapoel Be'er Sheva, who are looking to advance to the knockout stage for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
However, the five-time national champions have endured a mixed start to their domestic season with one win, one draw and one loss thus far, with the 2019-20 Israeli Premier League winners Maccabi Tel Aviv holding Yossi Abukasis's men to a goalless stalemate on Sunday.
While Abukasis would have hoped to see a more clinical attacking edge from his side in the league, Hapoel Be'er Sheva are enjoying a five-game unbeaten run in all competitions, but the Israeli outfit are facing an uphill battle to make the long journey back home from Nice with something to show for their efforts.
Nice Europa League form: L
Nice form (all competitions): LDWWLD
Hapoel Be'er Sheva Europa League form: WWWWW
Hapoel Be'er Sheva form (all competitions): LWWWWD
Team News
© Reuters
Nice manager Vieira has no injury concerns whatsoever to contend with for Thursday's fixture, with Lyon loanee Jeff Reine-Adelaide making his debut for Les Aiglons off the bench in the draw with Lille.
Vieira is expected to stick with the same three-man central defence from last week's drubbing at the hands of Leverkusen, but Youcef Atal will look to come back in on the right-hand side.
Amine Gouiri could replace Rony Lopes up top following his goal in that defeat to the Bundesliga outfit.
Similarly, the visitors have little selection concerns for their trip to France, with long-term absentees Gal Levi and Amit Bitton the only concerns with cruciate ligament ruptures.
Sintyahu Sallalich is in contention to replace Tomer Yosefi in what may be Hapoel Be'er Sheva's only change from their weekend stalemate with Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Nice possible starting lineup:
Benitez; Dante, Nsoki, Bambu; Atal, Schneiderlin, Lees Melou, Reine-Adelaide, Kamara; Dolberg, Gouiri
Hapoel Be'er Sheva possible starting lineup:
Levita; Dadia, Vitor, Kabha, Taha, Goldberg; Bareiro, Josue; Sallalich, Agudelo, Acolatse
We say: Nice 2-0 Hapoel Be'er Sheva
Hapoel Be'er Sheva have slayed all who have stood before them in the Europa League thus far, but Nice undoubtedly represent a different calibre of opponent for the Israeli side. The hosts will be determined to bounce back from their crushing defeat to Leverkusen as they eye a path to the knockout stages, so we are expecting a straightforward victory for Vieira's men on Thursday.
