On Saturday, August 14 at 5 PM, OGC Nice will play their second league match of the season following the opening draw against Nantes 0-0. This will be an opportunity for the new Gym coach, Christophe Galtier, to face the team with which he won the championship last season.
This is one of the exciting fixtures of the second round of Ligue 1, as OGC Nice travels to Pierre Mauroy stadium, home of LOSC. Both teams, having secured only one point on the opening day (Nice against Nantes 0-0 and Lille against Metz 3-3), will surely be eager to fight for the three points of victory. Christophe Galtier, having left LOSC this summer and replaced by Jocelyn Gourvennec, will also want to defeat his former club, the reigning champions.
Here are the probable lineups for one of the clashes of this second day of the championship:
Lille:
Jardim – Celik, Fonte (captain), Botman, Reinildo – Ikoné, André (or Xeka), Sanches (or Yazici), Bamba – Yilmaz, David.
Unavailable: Djalo (suspended), A. Gomes (injured), Karnezis (excluded).
Nice:
Starting eleven: Benitez – Atal, Todibo, Dante (captain), Bard (or Kamara) – Da Cunha, Thuram, Rosario, Kluivert – Dolberg, Gouiri.
Unavailable: Schneiderlin, Stengs (injured), Guessand, Claude-Maurice (returning).
In Nice’s probable eleven, there are several changes compared to the opening match: the possible presence of new recruit Melvin Bard on the left side of the defense. The young 20-year-old full-back, purchased for 4 million euros from Olympique Lyonnais, might experience his first start with the Gym. The return of Kasper Dolberg as a starter also seems likely. The Danish forward, who scored three goals at the Euro, had been replaced by N’doye for the first matches of the season.
On the Lille side, we will likely see the same team as against Metz. Only the two midfielder positions remain undecided. Benjamin Andre might be replaced by Xeka, while Sanches, who played as a right winger against the Lorraine team, could return to the center at the expense of Yusuf Yazici, with Ikone taking the right side.
