Bordeaux looking to get back to winning ways after losing first Ligue 1 game of the year at the Mosson against Montpellier Herault
For large spells of the Ligue 1 game against Ligue 1 leaders Montpellier Herault, Girondins de Bordeaux did extremely well at the Mosson. However, it was a http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/John-Utaka-c18898 goal just a few minutes before the final whistle that consigned Bordeaux to their first
league defeat of 2012.
Following a poor start to the campaign, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Francis-c13946 Gillot’s side have done extremely well to take the Aquitaine club back in contention for a European place by the end of the campaign.
The defeat against Montpellier was Bordeaux’s first in their last 11 outings and Gillot would now be looking to lead his side back to how they started the new year when they host OGC Nice at the Stade Chaban Delmas.
As things stand, Bordeaux are in ninth place in the Ligue 1 standings and are just four points away from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Olympique-Lyonnais-c40130 who are in the final Europa League qualifying place.
History certainly favours Bordeaux when they take on a struggling Nice side that many people say is destined for Ligue 2 football.
In the 44 top-flight meetings between the two sides in Gironde, Bordeaux have won 34 games and lost just seven times which means that Nice could be in for a hard time.
Furthermore, Nice have not won at the Delmas since 1977.
Since their opening day defeat at the hands of AS Saint-Etienne, Bordeaux have not lost a single game at home and have won all of their last six home games. throw in the fact that Nice have the worst away record in the league, Bordeaux would be feeling that
they should register another home win in a bid to qualify for Europe.
However, their chances of win highly depend on the fitness of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ludovic-Obraniak-c22623, Jaroslav Plasil and Landry N’Guemo. All three players were away on international duty and might be a bit worn out.
Alain Benedet, the assistant coach, has admitted that absence of players from the training ground has hindered preparations.
"It is a shame, especially after the Montpellier defeat. We needed to work on things. You do always wonder how fresh they will be when they come back," he said. "We played well at Montpellier. There was very little in it. We created lots of chances and could
even have killed the game off before they scored. Now we need to bounce back against Nice, who are a weak side away from home."
In October 2012, Bordeaux lost 3-0 at Nice and Les Girondins would be looking for redemption.
While Bordeaux have managed to push themselves far away from the relegation zone, Nice are still embroiled in a dramatic relegation battle. Nice’s hopes must be elated after they beat Caen last week. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Anthony-Mounier-c6224 scored the only goal of the game and captain
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Didier-Digard-c11042 feels that Les Aiglons should be looking to show a lot of fighting spirit.
"We demonstrated that there is a real team spirit here, and that we are all pulling in the same direction," said the 25-year-old.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Fabrice-Abriel-c13207 and Xavier Pentecote are out with injuries which makes Les Aiglons’ mission even tougher than it already is.
Predicted final score: Bordeaux 2-0 OGC Nice
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