Paulo Fonseca has no interest in chasing records, with his only focus on beating Nice in order for Lyon to boost their top-four hopes in Ligue 1.

Lyon sit third in the table after Marseille dropped points in a 2-2 draw with Strasbourg on Saturday, and they could now open up a five-point gap over Les Minots.

Their surge up the table has come courtesy of a six-game winning streak in Ligue 1, their best such run in nearly six years. That streak stretches to seven matches in all competitions.  

But Fonseca has shrugged off the idea that Lyon, who will be without Endrick through suspension, are chasing the win for any other reason than to add three points to their tally.

"It's [records] not a goal for me. I love having that possibility, but the most important thing is what we could do at the end of the season," Fonseca said.

"I know we have long winning streaks, but I don't know the exact statistics.

"We're high in the table, we have the Europa League and the Coupe de France, so there will be pressure. We need to approach this moment with a lot of composure."

Nice, meanwhile, are struggling at the other end of the table, sitting 14th on 23 points, though they are nine points clear of the relegation play-off place.

They are unbeaten in their last three games, coming into this match on the back of a 0-0 draw with Monaco.

But they will have to work hard for a win against Lyon, who boast one of the best defensive records in Ligue 1, having let in just 20 goals in their 21 games so far, a point of pride for Fonseca.

"The character of this team, the way all the players are willing to work defensively, that's the main reason [for their solidity]," Fonseca added.

"Before the season started, I studied what was happening in football, what our strengths were, and where we needed to improve.

"I understood that to improve defensively, we needed to progress individually. We worked a lot on our defensive line and our pressing.

"But the main explanation is the team's character and how we work together defensively. We worked a lot on the individual aspect, one-on-one situations, how to defend in those situations."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Lyon – Pavel Suic

Sulc scored his 10th goal of the Ligue 1 season last time out to secure a 1-0 win over Nantes.

The Lyon striker is the fourth Czech player to score at least 10 times in a single Ligue 1 season, after Antonin Tichy in 1947-48 (10), Karel Michlovsky in 1949-50 (16) and Lubos Kubik in 1992-93 (11).

Nice – Elye Wahi

Wahi has scored more Ligue 1 goals against Lyon than any other opponent (eight, including four goals at the Groupama Stadium with Montpellier in May 2023).

Wahi has netted three goals this season in just four league starts and has the best minutes-per-goal ratio among all Nice players (one every 123 minutes).

MATCH PREDICTION: LYON WIN

Lyon were on a three-match winning streak against Nice in Ligue 1, but that was ended last time out, with Les Aiglons holding out for a 3-2 victory.

Lyon have only failed to score in one of their last 17 home games against Nice in Ligue 1 (36 goals scored), doing so in August 2018 (0-1).

And Fonseca's side have won each of their last six Ligue 1 matches, Lyon's best run since an eight-game streak from March to May 2018. Prior to this run, Lyon had only picked up two wins from their previous nine league games (D3 L4).

Nice have conceded eight goals in the opening 15 minutes of Ligue 1 games this season, at least three more than any other side. Conversely, Lyon have the joint-best defence in this timeframe, having conceded just one goal, which came in the reverse fixture.

Lyon have scored at least one goal in each of their 26 home matches in all competitions under Paulo Fonseca (59 goals).

The Portuguese manager has only failed to see his team score in one home match across 71 fixtures while in charge of a French club.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Lyon – 55.7%

Draw – 22.7%

Nice – 21.6%