Nice v Zulte Waregem background
Beaten 1-0 by UEFA Europa League Group K leaders Lazio in combined time on matchday four, Nice are though in a clever position to validate alongside a Italian bar as they horde Zulte Waregem.
• A home win over a Belgian organisation they degraded 5-1 divided on matchday one will secure a knockout proviso berth for Nice during their opponents’ expense. Should Zulte Waregem win, however, they will leapfrog Nice into second place with one diversion to go.
Previous meetings
• That 5-1 opening-night delight during a Regenboogstadion came in Nice’s initial assembly with a Belgian side. It was also Zulte Waregem’s initial confront with French opposition.
• Alassane Plea scored twice in a opening 20 mins to set Nice on a approach to a biggest divided win in their European history. Dante, Allan Saint-Maximin and Mario Balotelli combined serve goals for a visitors, Aaron Leya Iseka’s 46th-minute bid a small satisfaction for a hosts.
Form guide
• Over a past dual seasons Nice have won only dual of their 7 home fixtures in European competition, losing four.
• Zulte Waregem have won 5 of their final 8 European divided matches (D1 L2), most recently 2-0 during Vitesse on matchday four. That outcome finished a Belgian club’s five-game winless strain in UEFA competition.
• Nice done their UEFA Europa League organisation theatre entrance in 2016/17 though unsuccessful to strech a turn of 32.
• Beaten by Napoli in this season’s UEFA Champions League play-offs, Nice have already played 8 UEFA matches this season, creation it their longest ever European campaign.
• Zulte Waregem claimed their second Belgian Cup in 2016/17; they done it by a UEFA Cup organisation theatre in 2006/07, though could not obey that success in a 2013/14 UEFA Europa League.
Links and trivia
• The tour from Waregem to Nice is around 850km.
• Nice defender Arnaud Souquet spent 2012/13 in Belgium, on loan during Mouscron from LOSC Lille.
• Nice’s Brazilian defender Dante played in Belgium with Charleroi (2006–07) and Standard Liège (2007–09).
• Dante has finished some-more passes than any other actor in a foe after 4 matchdays – 347. His team-mate Maxime Le Marchand is second on a list with 322.
• Zulte Waregem’s Congolese defender Marvin Baudry was innate in France and played in a French joining for Amiens (2011–15).
• Leya Iseka played 8 games in Ligue 1 final term, on loan from Anderlecht to Marseille, while midfielder Nill De Pauw plied his trade with Guingamp from 2015–17.
• Zulte Waregem’s Kingsley Madu is criminialized after receiving a red label opposite Vitesse on matchday four.
• Suspended for subsequent compare if booked: Balotelli (Nice).
The coaches
• Former Switzerland midfielder Lucien Favre has been in assign during Nice given May 2016. He done his name as a manager by capturing back-to-back Swiss titles with Zürich, and subsequently extended his repute during German sojourns during Hertha Berlin and Borussia Mönchengladbach.
• Francky Dury’s second entrance as Zulte Waregem manager began in 2012 and he led them to a second Belgian Cup success final season. Zultse and – post-merger – Zulte Waregem trainer from 1994–2010, he had spells with Gent and Belgium’s Under-21 side before to his return.