Marseille square off against rivals Nice on Sunday afternoon looking to extend their unbeaten start in Ligue 1 to four matches.

In sharp contrast, Nice have collected just two points from their opening three fixtures, leaving the Europa Conference League qualifiers down in 16th position in the standings.

Match preview

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Nice supporters can have no complaints with regards to their signings this summer with Nicolas Pepe the latest big name to arrive at Allianz Riviera.

However, it has taken a hard-fought success against Maccabi Tel Aviv in the Europa Conference League on Thursday night to kick-start the club's season.

Lucien Favre had witnessed his side fail to win any of their opening four matches in all competitions before overturning an aggregate deficit to win after extra time.

Nice have the potential to go deep in that particular continental competition, but Favre knows that he is also under pressure to deliver a top-five finish in Ligue 1.

On the back of three games without a victory in France's top flight, a meeting with Marseille is not ideal, and Les Aiglons must raise their game to get anything from the established second-best team in the country.

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Given Paris Saint-Germain's status and level of investment over the coming months, Igor Tudor arrived at the Stade Velodrome in the knowledge that Marseille are realistically competing for another runners-up spot.

As it stands, it is so far so good with with victories over Reims and Nantes coming either side of a draw away at Brest.

Having failed to keep a clean sheet in any of those games, Tudor will not be totally satisfied with the development of his team, but the potential is there to keep in close proximity to PSG before their meeting at Parc des Princes in the middle of October.

On a negative note, forward Arkadiusz Milik is on his way to Juventus, and the Poland international will need to be replaced over the coming days.

Team News

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Nice will be without Jean-Clair Todibo and Mario Lemina after they were both dismissed against Clermont last weekend.

Flavius Daniliuc should come into the backline, while Alexis Beka Beka may get the nod in central midfield.

Having come through 120 minutes in the Europa Conference League on Thursday night, Aaron Ramsey will likely start among the replacements alongside Pepe.

With Samuel Gigot serving a one-match ban, either Duje Caleta-Car or new arrival Eric Bailly will deputise in the Marseille back three.

Providing that goalkeeper Pau Lopez shakes off a knock, the remainder of the starting lineup could stay the same with Dimitri Payet only being selected on the substitutes' bench.

Nice possible starting lineup:
Schmeichel; Atal, Daniliuc, Dante, Bard; Beka, Rosario, Claude-Maurice; Stengs, Delort, Gouiri

Marseille possible starting lineup:
Lopez; Mbemba, Caleta-Car, Balerdi; Clauss, Rongier, Veretout, Tavares; Guendouzi, Gerson; Sanchez

We say: Nice 1-2 Marseille

Given the talent that they have brought through the door, expectations are high at Nice. Nevertheless, despite improvements likely to be around the corner, we feel that Marseille are a more united group right now and could prevail during the closing stages of an entertaining fixture.

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