FC Basel 1893 v Nice Betting Tips [13 April 2023]
Football - Conference League
13 April 2023 15:00
The match
The Europa Conference League is into the quarter-final with Swiss giants FC Basel hosting French Riviera club OGC Nice at St. Jakob Park for the first leg of this two-legged fixture. Basel had to overcome two knockout rounds to advance to this stage of the competition; the first a 2-1 aggregate victory over Trabzonspor, followed up by a penalty shootout victory against Slovan Bratislava after a wild 4-4 aggregate scoreline. Nice advanced to the final eight of the competition following a comfortable 4-1 aggregate win over Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol in the round of 16.
It’s been a season to forget for FC Basel who are set to finish outside of the top three in the Swiss Super League for the first time in over 20 years. While the domestic results have been nothing short of disastrous for RotBlau, a Conference League trophy would go a long way to easing the fans’ concerns. Heiko Vogel, who took over the struggling club in February after the sacking of former player and manager Alexander Frei, has experienced a decent start to his Basel coaching career. In 14 matches so far, Basel have won six and lost just three under the stewardship of Vogel, who was present for both of Basel’s successes in the previous two knockout rounds. Overall, the 20-time Super League champions have won two, drawn two and lost just once in their five matches at St. Jakob Park in the Conference League this campaign.
The visiting Nice enter this quarter-final matchup tied with Fiorentina as the bookmakers’ second-favorites to lift the Conference League trophy. Les Aiglons topped Group D with nine points and followed that up by winning both the home and away legs in their 4-1 aggregate victory over FC Sheriff in the round of 16. The result means that Nice have lost just once in their eight Conference League matches so far, winning four and drawing the other three. Manager Didier Digard has seen his team have some up-and-down form in Ligue 1 this season as OGC Nice currently sits ninth in the table. However, they have shown solid consistency when playing as the away team with Nice losing only three of their 15 away league matches. Nice is coming off a 2-0 home loss to PSG on the weekend, a result which has made it only one win, three draws and one defeat in the last five matches.
Key Statistics
- A 0-0 draw in their last fixture means FC Basel have now managed just one win in the previous four matches.
- In the league and Conference League combined this season, Nice have lost only three of their 19 away matches.
- Nice have a record of eight wins, six draws and only one loss over the last 15 matches overall across all competitions.
- Nice have scored in their last six consecutive away matches, netting a total of 11 goals during that stretch.
- Basel have struggled to keep out the goals lately, managing just one clean sheet over the last seven and conceding 13 goals during that time.
The bet of our experts
It’s been a tough season for Basel and things won’t get any easier for them here. Nice will be looking to bounce back here against much easier competition after suffering a home loss to PSG the last time out and should fare much better. The visitors have actually managed to be quite consistent when playing away from home, especially on the attacking side of the ball where they have managed better goal-scoring numbers this season. We agree with the bookmakers having Nice as the favorites despite being on the road here and still believe there is a good bit of value to be had in this number. Our FC Basel vs OGC Nice prediction: Nice to win
