Marseille and Lille are tipped to serve up a thrilling contest when they meet in a French Ligue 1 clash on Sunday. The hosts are without a number of players and could be given a stern test by a rejuvenated Lille side.
Despite battling inconsistency this season, Marseille have reasons to be pleased with their campaign so far. While the Ligue 1 title appears to be out of reach, a UEFA Champions League finish could be on the cards as they currently sit third on the table.
Marseille head into Sunday’s clash in good form as they are unbeaten in their last six matches across all competitions. Jorge Sampaoli’s men claimed a hard fought 1-0 victory at Bordeaux in their previous fixture with Cengiz Under’s first half effort proving to be the difference.
One problem for Marseille is that they have surprisingly found things difficult at home lately with one win and three draws from their last five matches at the Orange Velodrome. They are also missing a few players at the moment with Pape Gueye at the Africa Cup of Nations while Alvaro Gonzalez, Arkadiusz Milik and Gerson have tested positive for COVID-19.
It has been a difficult campaign for Lille with their title defence not going according to plan. Retaining the Ligue 1 trophy seems farfetched for Jocelyn Gourvennec’s men at the moment as they are currently 10th, 19 points behind leaders PSG.
Lille have shown some improvement lately and are unbeaten in their last seven Ligue 1 matches, although four of those fixtures have ended in draws. However, they were victorious in their previous league fixture, earning a 3-2 win at Bordeaux.
Lille have also impressed on the road lately and travel to Marseille unbeaten in their last three away matches.
How the bookies view it
Marseille have the edge among the bookies at 7/5 with MansionBet while a victory for Lille is valued at 11/5 with BetVictor. Betfred is offering odds of 12/5 for a draw.
Recent head to head
Marseille and Lille have claimed two wins each and a draw from their last five meetings. The most recent fixture between both teams at the Orange Velodrome ended in a 1-1 draw.
Players to watch
Cengiz Under has impressed for Marseille in recent weeks, scoring in his last two matches in all competitions, including the only goal last time out against Bordeaux. Unibet has the Turkish winger at 18/5 to score anytime on Sunday.
As always, Jonathan David will be the one to watch for Lille as he looks to add to his 12 Ligue 1 goals. The forward has four goals in his last two matches against Marseille and is priced at 12/5 by betfair to get on the score sheet on Sunday.
Anything else catch the eye?
Marseille and Lille often struggle at the back and given the quality in their attacks, both teams could be backed to score at 13/16 with SBK. There were over 3.5 goals in Lille’s previous away fixture which is priced at 21/8 by Vbet while over 2.5 goals is valued at 51/50 by Sporting Index.
There have been more goals after the break in two of Marseille’s last three Ligue 1 matches, so the second half could be tipped as the highest scoring half at 11/10 with Paddy Power.
This French Ligue 1 match between Marseille and Lille will be played on Jan 16, 2022 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Marseille vs Lille prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
