Marseille will hope to break into the continental places as they travel to the Stade Augustine-Delaune II for a Friday night French Ligue 1 fixture against Reims. The hosts have been the draw experts lately and can frustrate an inconsistent Marseille team.
Reims played out a 0-0 draw against Metz in their previous Ligue 1 fixture. They created a number of chances and had several attempts on goal but failed to find the breakthrough.
David Guion's men appear to be coasting towards a comfortable mid-table finish and sit 11th on the table.
Reims are currently on a nine-match unbeaten run, although seven of those fixtures have ended in draws. They often struggle defensively at home and have conceded in four of their last six matches across all competitions.
Marseille gave themselves hope in their quest for European football as they came from behind to beat Lorient 3-2. They went into the break one goal down but struck back through Dimitri Payet before Pol Lirola netted a brace to earn them the win.
The result means Marseille are now sixth on the table, one point behind Lens in the final Europa League spot. Jorge Sampaoli’s men head into Friday’s clash with just three wins from their last nine Ligue 1 matches.
Marseille have a poor record on their travels and are winless in their last 10 away matches in Ligue 1 with just one clean sheet in that run. They have drawn four of their last six away matches and were held 3-3 by Montpellier in their previous outing on the road.
How the bookies view it
Marseille are favourites among the bookies and are priced at 13/10 by Unibet to secure the win. Bet365 is offering 13/5 for a victory for Reims while a draw is set at odds of 88/35 by Vbet.
Both teams have seen plenty of draws in recent weeks and I am leaning towards a similar outcome on Friday.
Head to head
There have been 13 previous matches between Reims and Marseille with both teams earning four wins each. There have been five stalemates between them, inducing a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture back in December.
Players to watch
Boulaye Dia often carries the attacking threat for Reims and is the team's top scorer this season with 14 goals. Vbet has the striker at 15/8 to score anytime while bet365 is offering 11/2 for the first goal.
Marseille have multiple attacking threats with Florian Thauvin and Arkadiusz Milik among the goals this season. Milik is priced at 15/8 by BetVictor to score anytime while Thauvin is priced at 23/10 by Betfred in the same market.
Anything else catch the eye?
Given the attacking quality expected to be on display on Friday it might be worth a punt backing both teams to score at 19/20 with Sport Nation. There is more value in the goals market with over 2.5 goals priced at 11/10 with Unibet while over 3.5 goals is set at odds of 29/10 with the same firm.
There are also likely to be goals in both halves at evens with William Hill.
This French Ligue 1 match between Reims and Marseille will be played on Apr 23, 2021 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Reims vs Marseille prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
