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NederlandFresh from an emphatic 4-0 thrashing of champions Lille, Nice prepare for what should be a blockbuster affair against Marseille at the Allianz Riviera on Sunday evening.
While Christophe Galtier witnessed his players produce a near-perfect performance against his former club, Marseille could only muster a 2-2 draw with Bordeaux in gameweek two.
Match preview
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Galtier may have been welcomed back to the Stade Pierre-Mauroy with open arms after navigating Lille to Ligue 1 glory last term, but Les Dogues supporters were soon forced to witness their former manager's Nice side tear the champions to shreds on matchday two.
Kasper Dolberg and Hicham Boudaoui put Les Aiglons two goals to the good with barely five minutes of the encounter played, and the former doubled his tally with a second-half header after the highly-rated Amine Gouiri had opened his account for the season from the penalty spot.
A goalless draw with Reims on the opening day was hardly the ideal way to kick off Galtier's time in the Aiglons dugout, but optimism is surging through the ranks after humbling the reigning champions on their own turf, with Galtier's tried-and-tested 4-4-2 setup working to perfection.
Whether Nice can sustain a European charge this term remains to be seen, but their early-season form has seen them rise to fourth spot in the table after two matches, and the challenge for Galtier's side now is to prove that last week's result was no fluke.
Les Aiglons have now failed to find the back of the net in back-to-back home matches, but it has been over 12 years since they fired blanks three times in a row on familiar territory, and Jorge Sampaoli's Marseille are not renowned for any sort of defensive resolve.
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Following an opening-day success over Montpellier HSC marred by crowd trouble, Sampaoli's new-look Marseille - rife with attacking talent - sought to make it two for two against a Bordeaux side still in disarray.
Les Girondins travelled to the Orange Velodrome on the back of an opening-day defeat to newly-promoted Clermont Foot 63, and they seemed destined to fall to another defeat as Cengiz Under and Dimitri Payet put Marseille 2-0 up by half time, but substitutes Timothee Pembele and Remi Oudin struck to ensure a share of the spoils.
Leonardo Balerdi also saw red in a horror show of a second half for Marseille, who may boast an impressive tally of five goals from their first two games, but conceding four at the other end of the pitch highlights an area of concern for Sampaoli.
The Olympiens boss lamented Bordeaux's "lucky" comeback in gameweek two, but he cannot dwell on those two dropped points as he bids to improve his side's away fortunes, with Marseille claiming just two wins from their last 14 league games on the road.
That run includes a dismal 3-0 defeat to Nice at the Allianz Riviera back in March, but Marseille prevailed 3-2 at home a month beforehand and have not lost back-to-back games on Nice's turf since 2015.
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Team News
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Nice have no fresh injury concerns to report from their success over Lille, but new arrival Calvin Stengs will have to wait a little longer for his debut as he nurses a thigh problem.
The hosts also have Alexis Claude-Maurice and Morgan Schneiderlin in the medical bay, but 37-year-old Dante has slotted right back into the rearguard after overcoming the ACL injury which seemed to spell the end of his time at Nice.
Fringe players such as Dan Ndoye and Khephren Thuram continue to push for inclusion, but Galtier is expected to field the same starting XI from last week's demolition of the champions.
Marseille centre-back Balerdi has been slapped with a two-game ban after seeing red against Bordeaux, so either Duje Caleta-Car or Alvaro Gonzalez should return to a leaky rearguard.
Steve Mandanda's spot in goal is safe due to Pau Lopez's shoulder injury and recent bout of COVID-19, while Payet will continue to lead the line as Arkadiusz Milik battles back from a knee issue.
Dario Benedetto has completed a loan move to Elche since coming on as a substitute against Bordeaux, and Marseille's first XI should once again feature a healthy dose of new signings in Under, Gerson, Matteo Guendouzi and Konrad de la Fuente.
Nice possible starting lineup:
Benitez; Atal, Todibo, Dante, Bard; Boudaoui, Lemina, Rosario, Kluivert; Dolberg, Gouiri
Marseille possible starting lineup:
Mandanda; Saliba, Caleta-Car, Peres; Under, Kamara, Gueye, De la Fuente; Gerson, Guendouzi; Payet
We say: Nice 2-2 Marseille
Goals are almost always guaranteed when these two sides do battle, and given their respective starts to the new season, we cannot envisage anything different here.
Marseille will certainly not prove to be as profligate as Lille in front of goal, and with attacking talent aplenty in both XIs, a high-scoring stalemate could be on the cards.
