Do you know the Gym’s 2016/17 season like the back of your hand? During the international break, here are five statements about the Aiglons season so far. Some are true, others not. Will you be able to work out the true from the false?

 

1) The Gym have never had as many points at this stage of the season?

True - With 64 points at this stage of the season, the Niçois are progressing at record speeds. A rhythm with which, before this season, always saw that team crowned champions.

Currently in third position before the final sprint of the season, the Aiglons are four points behind Paris and 7 behind Monaco. Which goes to show that the Ligue 1 2016/2017 remains extraordinary in the pace at which the sides at the top have picked up points.

2) At this stage of the competition, the team has scored less goals than last season.

False - Balanced and compact, the current squad are equally effective in front of goal. With 48 goals scored since the start of this season, the 4th highest in L1, the Nice attack remains a strength of this team. Or more accurately, “the offensive drive of the squad”, given that 13 different players have scored this season. Last year, after 30 matches, the Gym had scored 43 times. In 2012/13, the number was 41, another pertinent statistic to use for comparison.

3) 24 goals conceded in 30 matches: this total is one of the lowest since the club’s promotion to the top-flight.

True - The discipline of Lucien Favre’s Aiglons makes up a real safety valve for them. This allows the squad to move forward calmly. In 15 years, two squads have boasted a better defensive record  after 30 games: the 2002/03 team (Cobos, Abardonado, Parmarot, Traoré, Varrault...) and the 2007/08 cohort (Hognon, Kanté, Apam, Diakité...). Both had conceded 23 goals, just 1 less than the current squad, which put them on the same a par with the 2005/2006 squad.
 

4) With only 2 defeats, Nice is the team that loses the least in France?

True - 18 victories, 10 draws and 2 defeats : the Aiglons’ record heading into the month of April. In France, no other side has lost fewer games, including the two sides at the top of the standings (Monaco have lost on 3 occasions, Paris 4, these opponents have, however, drawn on only 5 occasions). A solid performance and not that common…

5) With 8 games to go this season, have Nice already secured their place on the podium?

False - Despite a strong season so far, the Red and Blacks are not, at this moment in time, certain to have secured their place on the podium at the end of the season. Mathematically, the calculation appears to be simple. The Gym have 14 points over Lyon, in the position below with have a game in hand over Nice (against Metz on 5 April). If the Gones go on to achieve a 100% record, they would finish the season on 77 points. In order not to be caught, the Aiglons would need to take home 14 points in 8 games (13 to finish on 77 and 1 to protect themselves from their inferior goal difference).

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