Nice - Monaco. Prediction and Match Preview

February 8, 2026. 16:00. Nice. Allianz Riviera Stadium.

French Championship. 21st round.

Where to watch: MEGOGO

Injured: Abdelmonem, Bard, Bombito, Ndayishimiye - Cabral, Fass, Fati, Gradecki, Minamino, Pogba, Salisu, Mavissa (?), Dier (?), Balogun (?)

Nice - Monaco: Betting Odds

Sunday's program of the 21st round of the French Championship will begin with the Côte d'Azur derby. Nice will host Monaco at the Allianz Riviera. Both teams are far from their usual form this season. This is especially true for the hosts, who are languishing in the bottom half of the table and must watch the relegation zone. The visitors are in tenth place, three places higher, with five points more.

Nice

The Coupe de France remains perhaps the only source of joy for Nice fans this season. The Eagles managed to bounce back in their midweek home match against Montpellier. Trailing 0-2 by the 69th minute, goals from Boudaoui, Mendy and Diop in the 90+7 minutes sealed victory and a place in the quarter-finals, where they will face Lorient. This is one of the greatest achievements under new coach Puel so far. He is leading the team for the second time in his career, taking the job after a four-year break. He replaced Eze on the bench. Franck had a stellar debut season in charge, leading the team straight into Champions League qualification, but a lack of support from management in terms of quality transfers has led to problems this season.

He left in early January with the team on the brink of relegation and no longer in contention for the Europa League play-offs after six defeats in six group stage matches. Things haven't been going well for Puel either - a crushing 5-1 defeat to Toulouse speaks for itself. However, points have been coming in more often: their first European win was followed by draws with Strasbourg and Brest, as well as a 4-1 defeat of Nantes in the league. This allows them to remain eight points off the play-off places. They are nine points above direct relegation. Nice showed real courage not only against Montpellier, but also against Brest in the last round, coming back from 0-2 down. One of those goals was scored by Wahi, on loan from Eintracht.

Conceding too many goals remains a big problem for Nice - only Metz, the boys from the league's foundations, are doing worse. So to even smell a European ticket, the Eagles need to seriously step up to the plate. Their last home league win came in the 10th round, when they beat Lille. Nevertheless, a run of five matches without defeat at the Allianz Riviera in all competitions suggests some improvement. Against Monaco, they have picked up points in two of their last three home games, including a 2-1 win last season.

Monaco

Unlike Nice, Monaco failed to maintain their cup run, losing 3-1 to Strasbourg. It has once again highlighted how inconsistent the Monegasques have been under Pocognoli. Since the Belgian took charge in October, the team has rarely produced two positive results. This raises questions about the need to sack previous coach Hütter mid-season, especially considering that in two seasons he led the team to the Champions League twice, where they finished second and third.

Pocognoli can boast of reaching the knockout stages of the top competition, which was secured last week by a goalless draw with Juventus. They will now play PSG for a place in the last 16. However, things are far from rosy in the league, as their tenth-place finish shows. There was a bright spot last week, however, with a 4-0 thrashing of Rennes closing the gap on the European places to four points, although the Champions League places are a full 12 points behind them. That gap has been created by Monaco's slump late last year and early this year, when they went five games without a win and four losses. Interestingly, that run came on the heels of a narrow home win over PSG, which remains Pocognoli's greatest Ligue 1 achievement to date. The Belgian boss managed to make it two consecutive league wins on Sunday for only the second time since taking charge, as his team look to end a four-game winless run away from home. Moreover, Monaco have failed to score in their last three Ligue 1 away matches, conceding 10 goals in four away trips this year. They can take inspiration from having picked up points in five of their last six away matches at the Allianz Riviera, scoring in seven consecutive away matches against Nice. The first leg ended in a thrilling 2-2 draw, which Monaco would have been happier with after coming from 0-2 down.

Nice v Monaco: Expected Line-ups

Abdelmonem, Bard, Bombito and Ndayishimiye are all receiving treatment at Nice, but Monaco's injury list is much longer: Cabral, Fass, Fati, Hradecki, Minamino, Pogba and Salisu. Question marks hang over Mavissa, Dier and Balogun.

Nice - Monaco: Author's prediction

This match could go either way, but when it comes to goals, expect at least three and both teams to score.