Frédéric Antonetti, the Nice coach, laments never having been able to field his ideal team away. The supporters, meanwhile, bring out the calculator and the “ifs.” “If” we had snatched a point here, another there… “If” we had been vigilant during set-pieces in Nancy…. In short, with a few more points, Nice would be sharing the championship spotlight alongside Rennes, Nancy, or Bordeaux. When one has a beautiful cake, one likes to eat the cherry. Antonetti’s men would ideally regain the cherry by conquering the three points on Lorient soil.
FC Lorient, coached by Christian Gourcuff, after a brilliant start, is now stagnating in troubled waters. On the evening of August 18th, the Bretons, after a resounding victory against Lyon, occupied the L1 leader’s chair. Since then? Not much. The merlu no longer flutters while the aiglon soars. First, four consecutive matches without scoring a single goal. The offensive awakening took place last Saturday with three goals scored at Auxerre. Unfortunately, the Burgundians scored five. It’s evident that Christian Gourcuff spent his training week refocusing his defense, as his words following Auxerre-Lorient confirm: “If we are that fragile, it’s unplayable. Our defensive fragility costs us the match, we showed the full range of what not to do. It’s the team’s fragility that’s worrying.” Worried Bretons face conqueror Azuréens. The showdown promises to be exciting.
The clash between the Eaglets and the Merlus also means the return of Baky Koné and Pancho Abardonado to Moustoir, and the reunion of Marama Vahirua with OGC Nice. The darling of le Ray had a sparkling start to the championship with an anthology goal against Lyon. Scoring a brace against the French champions, the Tahitian, with four goals to his name, was then the top scorer in L1. He then got injured and remained stuck at four goals. But Nice will have to be wary. It is known that generally, a player shines against his former club. Vahirua will try to showcase all his qualities. He will also remember that last year during Lorient-Nice (0-0) he had a confrontation with Frédéric Antonetti. Substituted in for an injured Koné in the 39th minute, the Gym coach, unhappy with his midfielder’s performance, replaced him in the 90th minute. A tough blow for Marama who made his feelings known.
Lorient-Nice is a turning point for both teams. Lorient will want to stop the negative spiral. Nice will attempt, without their ideal team due to Hugo Lloris’s absence and Apam’s uncertainty, to continue occupying the top of the chart and to get closer to the “stars” at the summit.
The Nice squad:
Letizi, Moreau, Barul, Kante, Hognon, Abardonado, Gace, Yahaya, Echouafni, Traore, Balmont, Hellebuyck, Ederson, Laslandes, Kone, Bamogo, Job, Modeste, Larbi.
The Lorient squad:
Audard, Cappone – Boutruche, Cantareil, Ciani, Genton, Jallet, Marchal, Morel – Abriel, Mansouri, Hautcoeur, Ewolo, Le Pen, Namouchi, Marin – Saïfi, Vahirua, Bourhani.
