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French Ligue 1: Strasbourg vs Nice
Kickoff Time: 2025-04-13 03:05 (HKT)
Source:REUTERS/Manon Cruz
Strasbourg is a dark horse in the league, currently only three points behind second-placed Marseille and a strong contender for the Champions League qualification for next season. After being acquired by Chelsea’s owner Todd Boehly, Strasbourg has become a base for Chelsea to train young players. According to statistics from the transfermarkt, Strasbourg tops the list of accumulated playing time for U21 players in the five major leagues this season, surpassing second-placed Barcelona by a full 2500 minutes. Taking the last league game’s starting lineup as an example, Strasbourg used six U21 players. This policy of “cultivating talent through competition” not only provides young players with the opportunity to play at a high level but also keeps the club competitive despite the lack of superstars. Tactically, Strasbourg insists on an open play style, allowing young players to participate more in offensive organization and high-intensity defensive transitions, thereby maximizing and enhancing their potential. The team emphasizes a combination of wing and center tactics. When attacking, wingers use speed to break through and cross the ball, midfielders actively join the attack, creating a situation of outnumbering the opponents; when defending, the team builds a tight defense, midfielders actively retreat, interfere and intercept the opponent’s passing lines, effectively compressing the opponent’s attacking space.
Nice’s recent form is extremely poor, and they lost at home to the relegation team Nantes in the last league game. It is evident that the team has not yet recovered from the loss in the Derby of the Cote d’Azur. At present, Nice has lost the initiative to compete for the Champions League qualification for next season, and head coach Franck Haise faces a crisis of being fired. In fact, there is a reason for Nice’s decline in performance. Previously, left winger Sofiane Diop, right winger Mohamed-Ali Cho, and defensive midfielder Pablo Rosario were all experiencing Ramadan in Islam, which had a certain impact on their physical fitness and training. The breakthrough on the wings, the cooperation in the center, and the offside tactics in the flanks have always been Nice’s most effective offensive means, which requires extremely high flexibility in the positioning of the wingers and accurate passing of the center players. In other words, Nice in March and early April lost the pacemaker of the attack. Whether the aforementioned players can regain their former strength in this game is still unknown. What’s more unfavorable is that Nice’s defense faces restructuring, with main central defender Dante Bonfim Costa Santos suspended due to a red card.
Strasbourg this season is good at collecting points at home, with a high unbeaten rate at home ranking second in the league, only behind the top Paris Saint-Germain. Now, Strasbourg is on a winning streak, with high morale. Facing Nice, who are in low spirits and poor form, it is believed that they will not miss the opportunity to secure points at home.
Strasbourg’s Last 5 Games: WWWWW
25-04-06 Reims 0-1 Strasbourg
25-03-29 Strasbourg 4-2 Lyon
25-03-17 Strasbourg 2-1 Toulouse
25-03-10 Nantes 0-1 Strasbourg
25-03-03 Auxerre 0-1 Strasbourg
Nice’s Last 5 Games: LLDLW
25-04-05 Nice 1-2 Nantes
25-03-30 AS Monaco 2-1 Nice
25-03-15 Nice 1-1 Auxerre
25-03-10 Nice 0-2 Lyon
25-03-02 Saint-Etienne 1-3 Nice
Head To Head Record:
24-11-25 Nice 2-1 Strasbourg
24-04-28 Strasbourg 1-3 Nice
23-09-03 Nice 2-0 Strasbourg
23-05-13 Strasbourg 2-0 Nice
22-08-14 Nice 1-1 Strasbourg
Prediction: Strasbourg to Win or Draw