Axel Witsel named Nice captain, Olivier Giroud on Lille bench for 17:15 kick-off | OneFootball

According to L'Équipe, Axel Witsel has been handed the Nice captaincy for Sunday’s 17:15 meeting with Lille, while Olivier Giroud starts on the bench.

With Nice winless at home for 326 days, coach Olivier Pantaloni keeps faith with his core XI, preferring Gauthier Hein to Sofiane Diop as creator.

The armband moves from Jonathan Clauss, who had worn it since the start of the season, to Witsel. Clauss had been seen as a stopgap choice. Pantaloni will speak about the switch after the match.

Clauss is said not to have consistently met the standards required for the role in recent weeks, and he and his coach are understood to have agreed on the change.

Nice XI: Y. Diouf, Abdelmonem, Ndayishimiye, Mandza, Clauss, Witsel, D. Coulibaly, Nkounkou, Hein, Wahi, Amoura.

For Lille, Davide Ancelotti names an expected side, with Ayase Ueda again preferred up front. Ethan Mbappé starts on the right ahead of Dilane Bawka, Basar Önal continues on the left after last Sunday’s 2-0 win at Troyes, and André captains.

Lille XI: Özer, T. Santos, Ngoy, Alexsandro, Perraud, André, Bentaleb, E. Mbappé, Haraldsson, Önal, Ueda.

Source: L'Équipe

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