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Nice was a major surprise last season, as they finished third in Ligue 1 and qualified for the Champions League for the first time. Unfortunately for Nice, their success is likely to be short-lived, as they lost a number of top players in the off-season including Younes Belhanda, Paul Baysse and Ricardo Pereira. Nice did next to nothing in the off-season to address their losses so it is a given that the club will be worse in 2017-2018, the question is how much worse.
Nice French Ligue 1 Odds
Odds To Win French Ligue 1: +7550
Nice is no threat to win Ligue 1 considering their off-season losses. They do have some good players in Mario Balotelli, Jean Micheal Seri and Alassane Plea but the club has no depth. They also don’t have anyone to replace Pereira or Belhanda. Nice is going to struggle in Ligue 1 this season, especially since they have to deal with the added pressure of Champions League play.
Nice Competitions in 2017-18
French Ligue 1
Coupe de France
Coupe de la Ligue
Champions League
What's New?
Nice added Adrien Tameze from Valenciennes FC, Pierre Lees-Melou from Dijon FCO, Christophe Jallet from Olympique Lyonnais), Jean-Victor Makengo from SM Caen and Racine Coly who they hope can replace Dalbert. Nice also added 19-year old Jean-Victor Makengo.
What's Gone?
The team lost Mouez Hassen on loan to La Berrichonne de Chateauroux, Paul Baysse to Malaga, Younes Belhanda to Dynamo Kyiv, Ricardo Pereira to FC Porto, Anastasios Donis to Juventus, Alexy Bosetti, Said Benrahma on loan to La Berrichonne de Chateauroux, Dorian Caddy to US Quevilly-Rouen and Franck Honorat to Clermont Foot. They were expected to lose Jean-Michael Seri to Barcelona but that move fell through.
Nice 2017-18 Predictions
Nice has a good manager in Lucien Favre and he led them to a nice finish last season in Ligue 1. He has his work cut out for him this season because the team is definitely weaker. Nice still has Plea, Balotelli and Seri but Plea is an injury waiting to happen, Balotelli is past his prime and the team is trying to sell Seri.
Nice will miss Pereira who is back at Porto and they end up selling Dalbert. Perhaps Wylian Cyprien can come back from injury and play well but who knows.
You can make a case that last season was an aberration for Nice, as nearly everything went right. That is not the case this season, as the team didn’t do enough in the off-season to replace their lost talent. Nice will definitely miss Belhanda and the loss of Henrique should also not be overlooked.
Nice was outstanding at home last season, as they went 14-1 with 4 draws, outscoring opponents by a combined 39-16. They were 8-3 on the road with 8 draws, outscoring opponents by a combined 24-20. Matching those numbers in 2017-2018 is extremely unlikely.
Nice is going to fall from their third place finish of a year ago. If they don’t get a big season out of Balotelli it could be a major fall. Favre is a very good manager so he will probably figure a way to get Nice an upper table finish but it is almost a given the team won’t get another Champions League spot. It also seems very unlikely the team has enough to get a Europa League spot but at least that is not out of the question.
The most likely scenario for Nice is a finish just inside the top 10 for the 2017-2018 season, with the best outcome a 7th place finish and a Europa League spot.
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