Marseille continue their late push for a European finish as they welcome troubled Lorient to Orange Velodrome. With Lorient struggling to find their best form at the moment, they should find things difficult against Marseille, who often do their best work at home.
Marseille will officially end their campaign without any piece of silverware after crashing out of the Europa League following a 3-0 semi-final second leg defeat to Atalanta on Thursday. Domestically, they only have an outside chance of finishing in the European places as they are currently five points off the top six with two matches left to play.
Jean-Louis Gasset’s men will head into Sunday’s clash with confidence having suffered just one Ligue 1 defeat at Orange Velodrome all season. They picked up a 2-1 home victory over Lens in their previous Ligue 1 fixture with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang opening the scoring.
Sitting second from bottom in the Ligue 1 standings, six points from safety with two matches left to play, the outlook appears bleak for Lorient. They are most likely to be relegated this season and a defeat on Sunday will confirm their plunge into the second tier.
Things have been rough for Lorient in recent weeks as they have lost their last six Ligue 1 matches, including a 2-0 defeat at Lens in their previous fixture. Regis Le Bris’ men have also lost their last three Ligue 1 away matches, failing to score a single goal in that run.
How the bookies view it: Marseille overwhelming favourites
Marseille have the upper hand among the bookies and are priced at 4/9 by bet365 to claim the win. An unlikely victory for Lorient us valued at 11/2 while a draw is set at odds of 4/1.
Recent head to head: Marseille always top dogs in this fixture
Marseille often come out on top in this fixture and have picked up eight wins and one draw from the last nine meetings. They ran out 4-2 winners in the reverse fixture back in December with Aubameyang netting a brace.
Players to watch: Aubameyang to maintain hot streak
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been one of the standout players for Marseille and is their leading scorer with 14 League 1 goals. The striker has also found the net in three of the last four Ligue 1 matches and is priced at 8/11 by bet365 to maintain his scoring run.
Given Lorient’s goalscoring problems on their travels, Marseille will be targeting a clean sheet on Sunday. Chancel Mbemba and Samuel Gigot should feature in central defence and can lead the hosts to a clean sheet at 11/8 by bet365.
Probable line-ups
Marseille will be without Leonardo Balerdi, who is suspended for Saturday’s clash. Azzedine Ounahi and Ismaila Sarr are likely to be handed starts after playing as substitutes on Thursday.
Lorient have no new injury worries and should stick with much of the squad that lost at Lens last time out.
Marseille: Lopez, Merlin, Mbemba, Gigot, Clauss, Kondogbia, Ounahi, Veretout, Ndiaye, Sarr, Aubameyang.
Lorient: Mvogo, Adjei, Talbi, Laporte, Katseris, Abergel, Bakayoko, Mendy, Louza Ponceau, Bamba.
Anything else catch the eye? One-sided win for Marseille on the cards
With Lorient failing to score in their last three away matches, Marseille will be targeting a win to nil at 13/8 with bet365. Having put four past their opponents in the reverse fixture, a -1 handicap could also be considered at 11/10 by bet365.
Marseille scored in both halves in the reverse fixture and could be set for a similar pattern at evens with bet365.
This French Ligue 1 match between Marseille and Lorient will be played on May 12, 2024 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Marseille vs Lorient prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
