Matchday seven of the Ligue 1 campaign concludes on Sunday, with Lyon welcoming Nice to Groupama Stadium.

A 2-1 defeat at Lens dropped Les Gones down to fourth in the table, while Nice climbed up to ninth after a 2-1 win over Strasbourg.

Match preview

For the first time in the new Ligue 1 season, Lyon started slowly on matchday six and could not recover in time last week.

The 36th-minute goal they conceded to Lens was the earliest goal they had allowed in the competition this season, while they suffered their first top flight defeat of 2026-27.

Paulo Fonseca could match his longest domestic losing run with a defeat on Sunday, after incurring back-to-back losses on two other occasions this year.

That said, they should draw some confidence from their Europa League form, going a perfect 2-0 in the League Phase of that tournament, following a narrow 3-2 triumph versus former manager Pierre Sage and last season’s Conference League winners Crystal Palace on Thursday.

Olympique Lyonnais have been airtight defensively at Groupama Stadium this season, conceding one goal or fewer in all of their Ligue 1 home games so far, though they gave up two versus Palace at home this week.

Les Gones can stretch their home winning streak versus Nice to four matches this weekend and extend their home unbeaten run against them to six games.

Despite a dismal start to his tenure as Nice boss, Olivier Pantaloni has steadied the ship in recent weeks.

The former Lorient manager will seek a third successive league triumph on Sunday, which would match their longest domestic winning run from last season.

Their recent form has lifted them from a relegation spot to the top half of the table in just two games, as they are currently four points above the automatic relegation zone heading into this match.

An away victory would be a massive psychological boost for them, as Nice have not won a Ligue 1 match outside Allianz Riviera since March of last season (2-0 at Angers).

That said, goals have been hard to come by, as they boast the second-worst expected goals ratio in this competition (6.8) and have yet to score away from home in this campaign.

Le Gym can claim their first league win at Lyon on Sunday since May 2021, when they beat them 3-2.

Lyon Ligue 1 form:

Lyon form (all competitions):

Nice Ligue 1 form:

Team News

A hamstring strain will likely sideline Moussa Niakhate out for Lyon on Sunday, while Mohamed Ouedraogo is dealing with a knee injury and Keito Nakamura is seeking his first Ligue 1 start for his new club after collecting two assists on Thursday.

Khalis Merah scored a few minutes before the end last weekend, while Corentin Tolisso, Ernest Nuamah and Pavel Sulc netted in their victory over Palace.

Due to cruciate ligament problems, Antoine Mendy and Laurent Abergel will miss this match for Nice, Moise Bombito is still recovering from a lower-leg injury, while Morgan Sanson and Salis Abdul Samed are questionable because of knocks.

Jonathan Clauss netted the winner nine minutes before the 90 last Sunday after a Pape Demba Diop own goal drew them level.

Lyon possible starting lineup:

Grief; Athekame, Bacher, Kluivert, Abner; Tessmann, Morton; Nuamah, Sulc, Nakamura; Openda

Nice possible starting lineup:

Diouf; Abdelmonem, Ndayishimiye, Mandza; Clauss, Camara, Witsel, Nkounkou; Hein, Diop; Wahi

We say: Lyon 1-0 Nice

While Nice have made great strides of late, we worry that their lack of firepower will make life far too easy for a side as consistently solid defensively as Lyon, particularly at Groupama Stadium, a venue that Lyon often thrive at.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.