🏏 Sun, 17 May 2026 21:00 CEST
OGC Nice
vs
FC Metz
3-4-1-2 vs 4-2-3-1
Substitutes
Substitutes
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- A meeting of two relegation-zone sides between 16th-placed Nice (31 points) and 18th-placed Metz (16 points). Nice are level on points with 15th-placed Auxerre but 16th on goal difference, and have gone without a win with 4 draws and 1 loss in their last five. Metz are bottom and survival looks hopeless; with 4 losses and 1 draw in their last five, including a 0-4 thrashing by Lorient last time out, their plight remains grim.
- In the first meeting on Matchday 12, Metz won 2-1 at home, recording their only direct-clash win of the season. Nice lost 1-2 to Auxerre last time out, beaten by a survival-battle rival in a direct meeting. This is an absolute must-not-lose match for Nice in the survival fight.
- Nice line up in a 3-4-1-2 with a front two of Hungary international forward Bodaszki and Ghana international forward Way. As the No.10, Senegal international Sofiane Diop is deployed. Diop's weapon is his play using his 184cm frame, and he is a quality player who joined Nice after spells at Rennes and Strasbourg.
- Metz play a 4-2-3-1 with Georgia international forward Giorgi Kvilitaia leading the line. On the second line are fellow Georgia international Abuashvili, former France international Stambouli and Frenchman En. Stambouli is a veteran playmaker with experience at big clubs like Paris Saint-Germain and Schalke.
- Nice's veteran centre-back Dante is an iron man still playing on at 41. He represented Brazil at the 2014 World Cup and won the Champions League with Bayern Munich. Metz's left-back Maxime Colin, by contrast, is a 28-year-old French defender who has moved through Bordeaux, Sporting and Rangers.
- Nice have scored 37 and conceded 60, Metz 32 and 76 — both sides have serious problems at both ends. Metz in particular have the league's worst defence, conceding 76 in 33 games. Nice too are unable to close out games, drawing their last four straight. The focus is on which side can show the greater determination to win in this direct relegation clash.