Marseille-Montpellier is a match from the 29th day of Ligue 1 and is played on Friday at 21:00: statistics, likely formations, predictions.
Marseille’s championship kicks off with the Provençal derby against Montpellier, as they look to keep alive a title fight that at this moment in Ligue 1 appears already written.
Despite their heavy defeat in February’s direct clash at the Velodrome, Igor Tudor’s men remain the main antagonists for Paris Saint-Germain, who, after being eliminated from the Champions League, will be able to concentrate their efforts exclusively on the national top flight from now until the end of the season. With ten days to go until the end of the tournament, Marseille is second in the standings but seven points behind the Parisians. At the same time, Sanchez and his teammates have to watch their backs against a possible assault by Lens, third, who have come back and are only two points behind: second place means direct qualification to the next Champions League, without having to play the dangerous play-offs. Tudor still hopes for the title, but a sensational feat will be needed, also because it is really unlikely that Psg will lose any more points on the road now that they only have one goal left to chase. Marseille, who were eliminated by Ligue 2 side Annecy from the Coupe de France a month ago, also have only one goal left.
Der Zakarian has revived Montpellier
But where were we? Before the break, Marseille, thanks to a brace from Sanchez – the former Inter Milan player recently scored for Chile – had ended Reims’ long unbeaten streak (1-2) with yet another away win – the Provençal side have only won away from home in 2023 – and took three points off Psg, who had fallen to Rennes in front of their home crowd.
Der Zakarian
In order to put further pressure on reigning French champions Marseille can do no wrong in their first leg against a Montpellier side completely reborn since Michel Der Zakarian returned to the bench last February. Since mid-February, the orange-blue side have collected five victories and a draw, a positive streak that has allowed them to climb to 11th place and secure safety. In the last round, Montpellier managed to beat Clermont 2-1 in a comeback despite several absentees due to injury. In the match at the Velodrome the coach of Armenian origin will not have Ferri, disqualified. On the other side, Tudor will have to do without Moroccan Ounahi, injured with his national team.
The prediction
Marseille will have to watch out for a rampaging Montpellier side who, having secured safety, will be able to play with a clear head, with nothing to lose. Tudor’s men have more motivation and are slight favourites, but they should concede at least one goal against a team that has never been out of the lead since Der Zakarian’s return.
The Marseille-Montpellier matchday squad
- MARSEILLE (3-4-2-1): Lopez; Mbemba, Gigot, Bailly; Clauss, Rongier, Veretout, Nuno Tavares; Ünder, Malinovskyi; Sanchez.
- MONTPELLIER (4-2-3-1): Lecomte; Sacko, Kouyaté, Jullien, Sylla; Chotard, Leroy; Nordin, Savanier, Mavididi; Wahi.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
