Our prediction for this Ligue 1 match:
Nice and Montpellier face each other at Allianz Riviera in what is expected to be one of the most exciting games of Sunday’s program. Les Aiglons aim to bounce back from a 2-0 loss to Dijon where they failed to turn their dominance into goals. Nice are eager to retain their spot in top ten, but the game against Montpellier will be anything but a walk in the park for the hosts. The likes of Thuram-Ulien, Gouiri, Reine-Adelaide, and Dante are all likely to miss the game with injuries, but there are no suspended players in the home team.
La Paillade, on the other hand, have drawn the previous three league fixtures. La Paillade look sharp in front of goal, and seeing that Nice key attacker Kasper Dolberg has found his goalscoring touch, we are tempted to put our money on both teams to score. Both Mendes and Oyongo are injured for the visiting team.
Highlighted Player (Dante):
Dante is a left-footed defender who was born in Salvador, Brazil on 18 October, 1983. The 189-cm-tall centre back, who is capable of playing as a left back as well, started his senior career at Juventude. After making 53 appearances for the club between 2002 and 2004 he moved to Ligue 1 outfit Lille.
He played for Belgian sides Charleroi and Standard from 2006 to 2009 and on 27 December, 2008 he signed a contract with Borussia M’gladbach for an undisclosed fee. After impressing with the Fohlen in the 2011/2012 Bundesliga campaign he moved to Bayern Munich at the end of the season and it has to be noted that he scored three goals in 83 league appearances for FCB.
In 2015 he signed a contract with fellow Bundesliga team Wolfsburg and he played 24 league games for the Wolves in the 2015/2016 season. In 2013 he won the Champions League trophy with Bayern Munich and he lifted the FIFA Confederations Cup with Brazil the same year.
Highlighted Team (Montpellier):
Over the years Montpellier have established themselves as a mid-table side in French Ligue 1. Montpellier are considered one of the youngest clubs in France as they were founded in 1974, but it has to be noted that a number of high-profile footballers played for the club in the past. French football legend Laurent Blanc played for Montpellier from 1981-1993 and he scored 76 goals in 24 appearances in the league for the club. Eric Cantona, Roger Milla, Carlos Valderama and Olivier Giroud played in Montpellier’s colors as well, but Pascal Baills is the player with most appearances for the club (429).
La Paillade did remarkably well to win the Ligue 1 trophy in 2012 and that is considered the club’s biggest success. Montpellier won Coupe de France on two occasions (1929, 1990), with the team beating FC Sete and FC Paris respectively in the title games. The team welcome their rivals at Stade de la Mosson and the capacity of the stadium is 32.900. In 1999 Montpellier won the UEFA Intertoto Cup.