Nice vs. Freiburg Europa League preview: Team news and predicted lineups

Team news, predicted lineups and key insights ahead of Nice vs. Freiburg in the Europa League.

After putting seven points on the board across their opening three Europa League matches, Freiburg travel to Nice as they look to continue their unbeaten European run against a Nice side winless in three games against Roma, Fenerbahce and Celta Vigo. 

The hosts are currently sitting just outside the European places in Ligue 1, with 17 points in their opening 11 matches, placing them eighth.

Franck Haise’s side suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat against Paris Saint-Germain over the weekend, with a late goal from Goncalo Ramos bringing an end to their five-match unbeaten run in France, stretching back to a 4-1 defeat against Brest in September.

Nice’s injury list heading into the fixture is extensive. Sofiane Diop, Jonathan Clauss and Terem Moffi are all expected to make their returns later this month, while Yousouff Ndayishimiye, Moise Bombitoo and Mohamed Abdelmonem will not return to the fold until the new year at the earliest.

Ex-Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg man, Dante, also remains sidelined due to a knee injury, alongside Mohamed-Ali Cho.

Freiburg continued to falter throughout October, with Julian Schuster’s side winless since a 3-0 win against Werder Bremen at the end of September. 

They have drawn four of their last five Bundesliga matches, with a single loss coming at the hands of Bayer Leverkusen. In Europe, though, Freiburg are flying, with seven points from three matches, placing them sixth in the league phase standings. 

After a 2-1 win against Basel in their opening match, they earned a point on their travels against Bologna, before beating Dutch outfit Utrecht at Europa Park-Stadion last time out. 

Freiburg’s injury list pales in comparison to that of Thursday’s hosts, though it can be said that things are far from ideal for Schuster on this front. 

Cyrique Irie, Eren Dinkci, Patrick Osterhage and Daniel-Kofi Kyereh all remain out, though all are expected to make their respective returns later this month.

Predicted lineups

Nice – 5-4-1: Diouf – Mendy, Bah, Oppong, Bard, Abdi – Gouveia, Louchet, Bouadoui, Sanson – Jansson 

Freiburg – 4-2-3-1: Atubolu – Treu, Ginter, Rosenfelder, Makengo – Eggestein, Manzambi – Beste, Höler, Grifo – Adamu