Nice will be without the injured Kasper Dolberg as they look to give their Ligue 1 Uber Eats season a shot in the arm at Lorient on Wednesday.
LORIENT-NICE (kick-off 9pm CEST)
Dolberg limped out of Sunday's 2-2 derby draw with Monaco before the quarter-hour mark, and coach Christophe Galtier will have to plan without the Denmark international, who has three league goals this season.
"Kasper took a blow to a knee," explained Galtier, who will also be without the suspended Mario Lemina. "He hurt himself three weeks ago and had to miss the Bordeaux game. He got hit in the same place, which provoked a sharp pain. The tests that have been carried out are reassuring.
"There's no lesion, twist or stretching of the ligament. It's a knock, but he will miss tomorrow's game. The aim is for him to be available for Saturday against Saint-Etienne. We're still not sure if he will be. Today, he started working again individually. We'll see how much pain he has."
Nice's draw with their Côte d'Azur neighbours — a game played behind closed doors at the Allianz Riviera due to the incidents that marred their home game with Marseille earlier in the season — brought to an end a series of three straight wins and saw Galtier's men concede their first goals of the season.
WATCH: Nice and Monaco share derby spoils
"We started the first half badly, but began the second better," said striker Andy Delort, the man who replaced Dolberg and who had a hand in both Nice goals, scoring one. "We were better tactically. We showed two faces, which you can't do.
"It was a good Monaco team, but we showed that we were there to win the second balls, were better going forward and in our challenges, we could match them. We played two halves, one for them, one for us. And in the end it's 2-2."
Nice could have won the game but for Amine Gouiri failing to add to his four league strikes this campaign with a late penalty that the France U21 sent wide of the target. But Gouiri had sent over the cross for Delort to open his Nice account following his summer move from Montpellier.
"That's what we worked on training. At half-time, the coach told us to play higher up the pitch and to make more runs in behind," Delort explained. "We were closer to each other, we could find each other more easily. Amine was on the flank, he put in a superb cross and I just put it back where it had come from."
WATCH: Lorient sink Monaco
Right-back Jordan Lotomba was also forced off with injury at the weekend but will be available for the long trip to Brittany to face a Lorient side that have confounded the critics with an excellent start to the season.
Christophe Pellissier's seventh-placed side come into the midweek round just two places and a single point behind Nice, and extended their unbeaten run to three matches with a goalless draw at Reims at the weekend.
They have already beaten Monaco this season, and with a game against Lyon to follow their encounter with Nice, Lorient — who only narrowly avoided relegation last season — are hoping to keep their momentum high.
"We have played four matches out of six away from home. There are a lot of positives," said defender Julien Laporte. "We're improving, we're making fewer and fewer mistakes, and we're getting to know the system better and better. I think everyone is trying to make amends for last season."
Probable teams
Lorient: Nardi; Carioca, Mendes, Laporte, Jenz, Le Goff; Abergel, Lemoine, Monconduit; Laurienté, Moffi.
Nice: Benitez; Atal, Todibo, Dante, Bard; Stengs, Rosario, Thuram, Boudaoui; Gouiri, Delort
