{"id":891234,"date":"2026-02-09T04:20:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T10:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/09\/nice-vs-montpellier\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T04:20:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T10:20:12","slug":"nice-vs-montpellier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/09\/nice-vs-montpellier\/","title":{"rendered":"Nice vs Montpellier"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Looking to avoid a second consecutive round-of-16 exit in the Coupe de France, top-flight side Nice<\/a> welcome second-division outfit Montpellier HSC<\/a> to the Allianz Riviera on Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n

The hosts were eliminated at this stage last term after a 2\u20131 defeat to lower-league minnows Stade Briochin, while the visitors have not reached the quarter-finals since 2020\u201321.<\/p>\n

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Match preview<\/h2>\n

Nice are enduring a challenging 2025\u201326 campaign and appear on course for one of their lowest Ligue 1 finishes in recent years, while their European journey has also come to an early end.<\/p>\n

After concluding their Europa League run in disappointing fashion \u2014 finishing 33rd in the league-phase table following a 1\u20130 loss at Ludogorets on matchday eight \u2014 Claude Puel<\/a>\u2019s men played out a 2\u20132 comeback draw at home to Brest last weekend.<\/p>\n

Les Aiglons fought back from a two-goal deficit courtesy of second-half strikes from Ali Abdi<\/a> and Elye Wahi<\/a>, though that result leaves Nice 13th in the\u00a0Ligue 1 table<\/strong><\/a>, nine points clear of the relegation zone and the same distance adrift of the continental places.<\/p>\n

Despite a below-par campaign so far, fans of the Eagles can take encouragement from a recent upturn in resilience, after seeing their team weather a nine-game losing streak to just two defeats in their last eight matches (W4, D2).<\/p>\n

Two of their four victories in that sequence came in the Coupe de France, having\u00a0defeated Saint-Etienne 2\u20131 before edging Nantes on penalties to reach this stage for the fifth time in seven years.<\/p>\n

However, Le Gym have progressed beyond the round of 16 only twice in that period, including a run to the 2021\u201322 final, where they were beaten by Nantes; however, Nice have gone all the way on three occasions \u2014 in 1951\u201352, 1953\u201354 and 1996\u201397.<\/p>\n

The three-time French Cup champions will also draw confidence from an encouraging home run of four unbeaten matches (W2, D2), a sequence they will hope continues on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Iconsport<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Montpellier, though, arrive with momentum of their own, particularly on the road, having won seven of their last 11 away matches across all competitions (D2, L2), including victories in all four of their Coupe de France ties this season.<\/p>\n

Zoumana Camara<\/a>\u2019s men opened their cup campaign with a 2\u20130 win at Agde, followed by a 4\u20130 thrashing of Montceau, a narrow 1\u20130 success at Cannet-Roussillon, and most recently a 4\u20130 dismantling of Metz.<\/p>\n

La Paillade are aiming to reach the Coupe de France quarter-finals for only the second time in 14 years, though memories of a 2023\u201324 exit at this very stage to Nice \u2014 coupled with a 2\u20130 defeat on their most recent visit to the Riviera \u2014 offer limited encouragement.<\/p>\n

That said, Montpellier enter this contest with four wins in their last six matches (L2), including a 3\u20131 victory over Guingamp at the weekend, which leaves them ninth in Ligue 2 and seven points off the promotion places.\u00a0
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nice Coupe de France form:<\/p>\n

Nice form (all competitions):<\/p>\n

Montpellier HSC Coupe de France form:<\/p>\n

Montpellier HSC form (all competitions):<\/p>\n

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Team News<\/h2>\n
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<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Imago<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Nice continue to grapple with several defensive injury concerns, with Melvin Bard<\/a>, Mohamed Abdelmonem, Moise Bombito and Youssouf Ndayishimiye all sidelined.<\/p>\n

Since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations, Yehvann Diouf<\/a> has yet to fully reclaim the number-one spot, but he is likely to start in goal here, potentially allowing Maxime Dupe to be preserved for league duties.<\/p>\n

Centre-back Juma Bah also returns to contention after missing the weekend draw with Brest through suspension for accumulated bookings.<\/p>\n

Montpellier, meanwhile, boast a near-full squad, although midfielder Teji Savanier<\/a> is a doubt after missing the weekend fixture.<\/p>\n

Left-back Theo Sainte-Luce has been sidelined since early December and is expected to sit out a ninth consecutive match.<\/p>\n

Alexandre Mendy netted twice from the penalty spot last time out to take his season tally to nine goals and will be the primary attacking threat once again.
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nice possible starting lineup:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Diouf; Clauss, Bah, Peprah, Abdi; Vanhoutte, Samed; Cho, Sanson, Diop; Wahi<\/p>\n

Montpellier HSC possible starting lineup:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ngapandouetnbu; Tchato, Laporte, Mouanga, Mincarelli; Omeragic, Da Silva; Pays, Chennahi, Issoufou; Mendy<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

We say: Nice 2-1 Montpellier HSC<\/h2>\n

The Coupe de France provides a welcome distraction from Nice\u2019s inconsistent league campaign, and home advantage could prove decisive as they look to capitalise on their improved form at the Riviera.<\/p>\n

While all seven of Montpellier\u2019s recent away victories have come with clean sheets, they face a side that has scored at least twice in three of their last four games on their own turf, so with pedigree and home support in their favour, a narrow victory for the hosts appears the most likely outcome.
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\n<\/div>\n

Rubi Byron
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Looking to avoid a second consecutive round-of-16 exit in the Coupe de France, top-flight side Nice welcome second-division outfit Montpellier HSC to the Allianz Riviera on Wednesday evening. The hosts were eliminated at this stage last term after a 2\u20131 defeat to lower-league minnows Stade Briochin, while the visitors have not reached the quarter-finals since<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":891235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[98696,28724],"tags":[98694,9201],"class_list":{"0":"post-891234","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-montpellier","8":"category-prediction","9":"tag-montpellier","10":"tag-prediction"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=891234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/891234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/891235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=891234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=891234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=891234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}