Nice vs Salzburg Predictions & Betting Tips, Match Previews

Nice’s incredible start to the season continued on Sunday as they beat Nantes 4-1 at home, to extend their Ligue 1 lead to six points over Monaco and PSG. This victory made it five wins on the bounce since their defeat at Krasnodar, but it’s quite clear that their main priority lies on the Ligue 1 campaign rather than the Europa League.

The in form domestic side lost at home to Schalke and away to Krasnodar in their opening two group matches before beating Salzburg 1-0 away from home last month. This puts them 3rd in the group, three points adrift of Krasnodar above them and six points off the perfect record of Schalke.

In terms of goalscorers they have one in particular that stands out. Mario Balotelli has made the most lethal start to Ligue 1 since Zlatan Ibrahimovic arrived in France, with the mercurial striker netting six goals in five Ligue 1 games. He does have one more in the Europa League, but he’s a minor doubt for this game and could well be rested ahead of Nice’s trip to Caen on Sunday.

That’s not much cause for concern though, as they have another in form attacker banging them in as well. Alassane Plea has scored eight goals in all competitions this season, and his goal at the weekend made it five goals in his last three games, including his winner against Salzburg. Odds of 6/4 for him to continue his fantastic form look very good value for money.

Salzburg have their own striker to call upon as well. Jonathan Soriano has netted seven goals in all competitions this season, including the visitors’ only goal in the Europa League this season, although odds of 6/4 for him to find the net aren’t very valuable considering Salzburg are the underdogs.

The visitors have started to pick up the pace a bit domestically, with three victories following their loss to Nice last month. They remain in a disappointing 3rd in the Austrian Bundesliga though, and away from home they have only won three of their last eight in all competitions.

Nice will feel confident in their ability to get a win here. They are in good form at the moment and beat Salzburg away from home recently. Salzburg, with zero points from their group games so far, are all but out of the competition already. They need to win all of their remaining games and hope that both Krasnodar and Nice slip up at least once more. I’m backing a Nice Win at 5/6 alongside a 2-1 correct score prediction at 15/2.