🏏 Sat, 22 Aug 2026 20:45 CEST
OGC Nice
vs
FC Lorient
3-4-2-1 vs 3-4-2-1
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- This is a mirror match to open the Ligue 1 season: both Nice and Lorient set up in a 3-4-2-1, with two shadow strikers behind a lone forward. The game will turn on how high the wing-backs can push and which side is quicker to track the shadow runners dropping into midfield. From the games already played on the opening weekend, Marseille lead on three points with a +4 goal difference, with Lens on +3 behind them.
- Gabin Bernardeau, one of Lorient's two shadow strikers, faces a former club. The 20-year-old left-footed playmaker came through the Le Mans academy and made 30 league appearances in 2024-25 before Nice signed him on the strength of his vision and final ball. Tonight he returns to Nice charged with unpicking the defence of the club that once recruited him.
- The other shadow role belongs to Jean-Victor Makengo, another Nice old boy. The 28-year-old left-footer graduated from the Caen academy, played for Nice, spent a loan at Toulouse and a spell at Udinese in Italy before Lorient paid a reported 11 million euros in 2023. His strength in possession and ability to carry the ball forward will determine how often Lorient get out of their own half.
- Nice's central midfield is strikingly young. Everton Pereira, a 19-year-old born in the city who came up through the club's under-19s, anchors the side with his ball recovery and distribution, and beside him is Djibril Coulibaly, born in 2008 and just 17. Against a Lorient engine room featuring the 191cm Noah Cadiou, whether that pair can survive the duels may decide the night.
- The Nice wing-backs have taken very different routes. On the right, 33-year-old Jonathan Clauss worked his way up from the lower leagues, made the Ligue 1 team of the season at Lens, moved on via Marseille and played at Euro 2024 for France. On the left, 25-year-old Melvin Bard is a Lyon academy product with more than 150 appearances since joining in 2021. The volume of crosses they deliver should map closely onto the chance count.
- There is real quality in both goals. Yehvann Diouf, Nice's 188cm Senegal international, made 101 Ligue 1 appearances for Reims with one of the division's best save percentages before a seven-million-euro move in the summer of 2025. Lorient counter with Yvon Mvogo, a 190cm 32-year-old who broke through at Young Boys and went on to play for RB Leipzig and PSV, and who is comfortable enough with his feet to start attacks.
- Lorient's back three is built on height. Ghana international Nathaniel Adjei stands 191cm and Tunisia's Montassar Talbi 190cm, the latter having arrived in 2022 from Rubin Kazan after spells at Esperance de Tunis and Rizespor, bringing accurate long distribution from the back. With the 206cm Isaak Toure waiting on the bench, Nice will need a plan for defensive set pieces.
- Nice mix experience and youth up front. Sofiane Diop, a 26-year-old Morocco international who came through at Rennes and arrived via Monaco, scored six goals in 2025-26 and is comfortable operating as a false nine. On the other side, 30-year-old Gauthier Hein is a left-footed set-piece taker who produced 12 goals and six assists for Metz in 2024-25. The 185cm, 21-year-old Zoumana Diallo leads the line.
- The Nice bench carries genuine threat. Isak Jansson, 24, joined from Rapid Vienna for around 10 million euros and returned nine goals and six assists in 33 games last season from the left. Mohamed-Ali Cho, 22, came through the PSG and Everton academies, made his debut at Angers and rejoined Nice from Real Sociedad in January 2024. If the game stalls, either can change its shape.
- Lorient's midfield and flanks are full of character too. Noah Cadiou, a 191cm box-to-box Guadeloupe international, earned his move the hard way through Boulogne, Red Star and Rodez, and brings duels and running power. Arsene Kouassi, a 21-year-old Burkina Faso international standing 188cm, supplies left-footed crosses from the left wing-back slot, while academy graduate Theo Le Bris, 23 and only 170cm, attacks the right with pace.