Ligue 1: Marseille Dare to Dream Against PSG

Marseille vs Paris Saint-Germain

The pressure is piling up for the defending champions as the Ligue 1 title race gets tighter by the week, and Marseille can make things even more complicated if they beat PSG at the Stade Velodrome this weekend.

Before they defeated Lille in a seven-goal thriller on Sunday, the Parisiens had lost three consecutive games across all competitions, including their Coupe de France Round of 16 tie to Marseille.

PSG are still in pole position, though, with 57 points, but their huge lead was cut down to only five because of their inconsistent form.

Marseille are right behind them with 52 points, and they have reasons to believe that they can defeat PSG again, especially since they’re on a three-game winning streak.

Read on as SBOTOP analyzes the latest edition of Le Classique on Sunday.

Talking Points

Marseille have reasons to be confident

The resurgence of Marseille has made their ardent fans believe that they could claim their first Ligue 1 title since 2010 under Didier Deschamps.

Igor Tudor deserves praise for the work he has accomplished here at OM. Not too long ago, the Stadium Velodrome crowd booed him when he was first unveiled as their new manager to take the position of the departing Jorge Sampaoli, but now he has turned those jeers into cheers.

One of the players who benefits from Tudor’s arrival is Alexis Sanchez, as the Chilean winger has scored 11 goals in all competitions this season, including four goals and one assist in their last five matches.

Sanchez came to the team as an afterthought because he fell down the pecking order at Inter Milan, but now he is a fan favourite at Marseille.

But Sanchez is not the only guy that PSG have to keep an eye on this weekend, as Marseille can also rely on the likes of Nuno Tavares, Chancel Mbemba, and Matteo Guendouzi to provide the goals.

Tavares is the team’s second-leading scorer with six goals, which is impressive for a left-back, while Mbemba and Guendouzi have accounted for eight goals and four assists so far this season.

OM are pretty solid at the back too, since they’ve only allowed 22 league goals so far this year. Before conceding two goals to Toulouse on Monday, Marseille had only allowed one league goal this month.

Neymar’s injury hurts PSG yet again

The Parisiens are pretty stacked in the final third, with Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, and Lionel Messi leading the way. However, they’ll be without one of their main protagonists for the next few weeks.

Neymar suffered an ankle injury and he was carried off on a stretcher during their 4-3 victory over Lille. He is not expected to be available not only against Marseille, but also against Bayern Munich in the return leg of their Champions League tie.

With Neymar out, vice captain Kylian Mbappe and co-star Lionel Messi will have to shoulder the load, while this is Hugo Ekitike’s big chance to solidify his place in Christophe Galtier’s rotation since he’ll replace Neymar in the starting XI. 

It’s not all bad Ligue 1 2023 news for PSG, as Nordi Mukiele and Marquinhos resumed training on Wednesday after dealing with knocks. Both of them are likely to feature on Sunday to bolster PSG’s backline.

History

Marseille beat PSG two weeks ago in the Coupe de France Round of 16 with a scoreline of 2-1, as Alexis Sanchez and Ruslan Malinovskyi netted for Les Olympiens, while Sergio Ramos recorded the only goal for Paris.

Igor Tudor’s side has the opportunity to win two consecutive games in all competitions against the Parisiens for the first time in the QSI era (since 2011-12).

PSG have suffered five losses across all competitions in 2023, while Marseille have only lost once and have seven wins in Ligue 1 so far this year (D1, L1).

Lionel Messi is just one goal away from reaching 700 goals in his club career. Marseille would have to keep an eye on him, especially since he’s fresh from scoring the winning free-kick against Lille last week.

Betting Tip

The Ligue 1 2023 odds predict a tight affair here in Le Classique. PSG were given the slight edge as they were installed at 2.31 to win, whereas Marseille were priced at 2.61 in the 1X2 market.

Marseille have proven that they can win in this fixture, and maybe they can pull it off again. However, we expect a response from PSG, so we’re leaning towards going for a draw at 3.55.

 

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