Nice vs Reims Prediction: Third card in as many games for Akieme against Les Aiglons

OGC Nice ended Paris Saint-Germain's dreams of an unbeaten Ligue 1 season last Friday as they beat the champions 3-1 in their own backyard. The win was their second in as many games and has kept Les Aiglons in the race for Uefa Champions League football next term as they are just one point behind fourth-place AS Monaco, although there are just three rounds of fixtures remaining for them to overtake the principality club.

This Friday (19:45, Ligue 1 Pass), Franck Haise's side host Stade Reims at Allianz Riviera, with the visitors' top-tier status still not totally secure. Below are my Nice vs Reims predictions, complete with all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Nice are expected to be without injured trio Dante (knee), Tanguy Ndombele (groin) and Moise Bombito (wrist) for Friday's fixture.

Haise could name an unchanged starting XI from last week's victory at the Parc des Princes, where midfielder Morgan Sanson bagged a brace in his first start of the season.

Football Odds

Sofian Diop, Baptiste Santamaria and Antoine Mendy came off the bench in Paris and will hope to earn more minutes this week.

Reda Khadra and Mohamed Daramy (both knee) will sit this one out for Reims, who could hand a start to 19-year-old Nhoa Sangui following his second-half arrival against Montpellier last week.

Nice vs Reims Odds

Nice are targeting a third consecutive victory, and they are 2/5 to get it, implying a 71.4% probability, while Reims are 13/2, or a 13.3% chance, to make it three wins from four.

The draw is priced at 18/5, both teams to score at 4/5, and over 2.5 total goals at 8/13.

Nice forward Terem Moffi (23/20) heads the anytime goalscorer market, with Keito Nakamura and Jordan Siebatcheu (both 16/5) first up for the visitors.

Both Teams To Score - Yes @ 4/5

Backing both teams to score in a game involving Nice is usually a good bet, as 74% (23/31) of their Ligue 1 games this season have seen BTTS - Yes land - only PSG (77%) can boast a higher percentage - and it's been a winner in their last six matches.

Reims, on the other hand, are 14th in the BTTS table, with only 48% of their contests seeing both teams find the back of the net, and, alarmingly for this selection, 10 of their last 11 have seen one or both teams fail to score.

However, they themselves have scored in two of their last three games, while Nice have struck in 24 of their last 25 in Ligue 1, and have kept just three clean sheets in their last 19.

Nice and Reims both have a lot to play for still, with Les Aiglons pushing for the Champions League, and Les Rouges et Blancs eager to secure survival as quickly as possible, so both teams to score, as they did in January's reverse fixture (2-4), is entirely feasible on Friday and worth backing at just under EVS, in my opinion.

Player to Receive a Card - Sergio Akieme (REI) @ 18/5

Reims left wing-back Sergio Akieme received his fifth yellow card of the Ligue 1 campaign last Sunday, and he's averaging 0.9 fouls per 90 minutes in this season's French top flight.

The 27-year-old's third league booking in 2024/25 came in January's reverse fixture against Nice at the Stade Auguste-Delaune, where he committed two fouls in total. The first of those offences was on right-sided forward Evann Guessand, and the second, which brought about his booking, on centre-forward Gaetan Laborde.

Akieme was also carded in his first appearance against Nice, a goalless draw last season, and he could make it a hat-trick of yellows on Friday.

Nice midfielder Hicham Boudaoui spent a lot of time on the right-hand side of his defensive third against PSG last week, and we can expect him to do a lot of defensive work there again this week, although he will hope to play more minutes in the other half at home to Reims.

Either way, he could come into close contact with Akieme, which makes the Spaniard an attractive option in the player card market at 18/5.

Offers

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