Marseille exited the Coupe de France at the quarter-final stage in midweek losing 1-0 to Lyon and now their attention reverts to Ligue 1 for a trip to the Stade Pierre-Mauroy to take on Lille. Marseille come here as PSG’s closest contenders despite being 12 points behind the league-leaders in 2nd and they are nine points better off than their hosts Lille who occupy 4th place as we head into Round 25 of the campaign.
Lille are on a three-game winning run entering this weekend with victories over Rennes, Angers and Strasbourg. At home Les Dogues have lost just one of their 12 games and that was at the hands of PSG. Lille have 40 points in the standings this term and 29 of those have been attained at home with the better of their form most definitely on display when hosting matches. They have won nine of their home games including a win over third-placed Rennes a week-and-a-half ago. Their defence is most notably sounder when playing at home as they have conceded just seven goals in games at this venue.
The visitors come here with an impressive record away from home this season. Marseille have accumulated 22 points on the road from a possible 36 which is the second-best away record in the league behind PSG (30). Defeat to Lyon ended an eight-game unbeaten win on the road for OM and they are currently on a six-game unbeaten run away from home in Ligue 1. The guests have kept a clean sheet in five of those six matches and have won three of their last five games at this venue whilst drawing the other two.
Marseille are definitely one of the better sides on the road in France but Lille are hard to beat at home as displayed by their impressive record. PSG came here and won but Rennes were beaten here over a week ago by Lille therefore I wouldn’t be confident in a win for Marseille. A lack of gaols appears to be a common theme in games here with teams coming and struggling to score so back under 2.5 goals in this match.