Match Information
Match Overview
Lyon host Nice at Groupama Stadium on October 18 in Ligue 1 Regular Season - 7, a matchday that begins to show how the season is taking shape. Fourth-placed Lyon face tenth-placed Nice, so the home side holds a clear advantage in the table, with Paulo Fonseca facing Olivier Pantaloni's team.
The most relevant factor is the contrast in recent league form, set against Lyon's European schedule. Lyon lost 2-1 away at Lens on October 9 in Regular Season - 6, but that came after a 4-0 home win over Rennes on September 19 and a 0-0 draw at Paris FC on September 12. They then played in the UEFA Europa League on October 15, beating Crystal Palace 3-2 at home. That is a quick turnaround before this fixture, so the schedule is worth noting as fatigue context. Nice arrive with two straight league wins, 2-1 over Strasbourg on October 11 and 2-1 over Lille on September 20. Before that they had lost 1-0 at Auxerre, drawn 1-1 with Le Mans and lost 3-0 at Paris FC.
Head-to-head history is the second factor. Lyon won the most recent meeting 2-0 on February 15, 2026, and have won five of the last ten, with Nice winning four and one draw. Nice did win 3-2 on October 18, 2025, so these meetings have often produced goals, with at least three scored in five of the ten.
For a deeper dive into the numbers, see our see the in-depth numbers.
Neither side has any reported unavailable players, so both managers should have full squads to choose from. Lyon's matchday squad includes depth across midfield and attack, and Nice have options in all areas as well.
This is a fixture between a side with a strong home-table position and a visitor with improving league results, played with the Europa League as a backdrop for Lyon.
Predicted Lineups
Lyon
Greif; Athekame, Bacher, Kluivert, Abner; Nartey; Morton, Merah; Tolisso; Nuamah, Keito Nakamura
Nice
Diouf; Abdelmonem, Ndayishimiye, Mandza Tsiendi; Clauss, Coulibaly, Witsel, Nkounkou; Hein, Amoura, Wahi
Team Form Analysis
Lyon
League Position: 4Lyon Form Analysis
Lyon's last five matches across competitions read three wins, one draw and one defeat. In Ligue 1 the picture is more mixed: a 0-0 draw at Paris FC on September 12, a 4-0 home win over Rennes on September 19, and a 2-1 defeat at Lens on October 9.
The attacking output stands out. Lyon scored 4 against Rennes, 3 against Crystal Palace and 2 at Anderlecht, ten goals across four matches that produced a result in front of goal, plus a blank at Paris FC. The Lens defeat was the only game in which they scored but still lost.
Defensively, Lyon kept clean sheets against Paris FC and Rennes but conceded twice at Lens and twice against Crystal Palace. That makes it nine goals conceded... in fact, six conceded across five matches, an average a little over one per game.
European fixtures add to the workload. Lyon beat Anderlecht 2-1 away on September 16 in League Stage - 1 and Crystal Palace 3-2 on October 15 in League Stage - 2. Both European results were wins, but the October 15 match came three days before this league fixture.
Nice
League Position: 10Nice Form Analysis
Nice's recent form shows an upward trajectory. They lost 3-0 at Paris FC on August 30, drew 1-1 at home with Le Mans on September 5 and lost 1-0 at Auxerre on September 12, but have since won both home league matches: 2-1 over Lille on September 20 and 2-1 over Strasbourg on October 11.
In attack, Nice scored four goals in their last five league matches, with two coming in each win. They failed to score at Paris FC and Auxerre, so the output has been uneven.
Defensively, they conceded 3 at Paris FC, 1 at Auxerre, 1 against Le Mans, 1 against Lille and 1 against Strasbourg. That is seven goals conceded in five matches, and they have not kept a clean sheet in the run.
Both defeats came away from home, at Paris FC and Auxerre, while all three home matches produced a draw or win. The Lille and Strasbourg victories came at home, so this trip to Lyon is a different test. All five matches in the run were in Ligue 1, so there is no European schedule to factor in.
Head-to-Head
Lyon
Nice
Recent Meetings
| Date | Home | Score | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-02-15 | Lyon | 2 - 0 | Nice |
| 2025-10-18 | Nice | 3 - 2 | Lyon |
| 2025-03-09 | Nice | 0 - 2 | Lyon |
| 2024-12-01 | Lyon | 4 - 1 | Nice |
| 2024-02-16 | Lyon | 1 - 0 | Nice |
| 2023-08-27 | Nice | 0 - 0 | Lyon |
| 2023-06-03 | Nice | 3 - 1 | Lyon |
| 2022-11-11 | Lyon | 1 - 1 | Nice |
| 2022-02-12 | Lyon | 2 - 0 | Nice |
| 2021-10-24 | Nice | 3 - 2 | Lyon |
Memorable Matches
The head-to-head record shows plenty of goals. On October 18, 2025, Nice won 3-2 against Lyon, one of several high-scoring meetings in the series. Nice also won 3-2 on October 24, 2021, in another close contest between the sides.
Lyon have had some commanding results too. They won 4-1 at home on December 1, 2024, the biggest margin in the last ten meetings, and followed that with a 2-0 win away at Nice on March 9, 2025. Most recently, Lyon won 2-0 at home on February 15, 2026.
Not every meeting has been decisive. The sides drew 0-0 on August 27, 2023, and 1-1 on November 11, 2022. Across the last ten, Lyon have five wins, Nice four and one is level on draws when counting those two games, which shows how competitive the fixture has been.
Venue Factor
Groupama Stadium hosts this fixture, and Lyon's recent home results in the data are positive. They beat Rennes 4-0 in Ligue 1 on September 19 and Crystal Palace 3-2 in the Europa League on October 15. The team's only defeat in the last five came away, at Lens on October 9.
Lyon have also been strong at home against
Injury Concerns
Lyon
Nice
