Lille – Marseille Preview

Olympique de Marseille make the lengthy trip to the North of France to face LOSC Lille in Friday night’s fixture to kick off a busy weekend in Ligue 1 Uber Eats. Les Dogues are currently unbeaten at home in 2024, and come off the back of a confidence-boosting win over local rivals Lens (2-1) last weekend.

Les Olympiens go into the game in the opposite sense, still licking their wounds after a painful 2-0 defeat at the Vélodrome to arch-rivals Paris Saint-Germain despite having a one-man advantage. They travel to Stade Pierre-Mauroy aiming to defeat a side who haven’t been shut-out for 14 months on home soil.

Two of France’s European competitors face off

Both Lille and Marseille will be facing European competition next week, and both will be tough tests, as OM face Benfica and LOSC clash with Premier League outfit Aston Villa. The home side are also chasing continental football for next season too, sitting three points clear of OGC Nice in the race for European football.

Meanwhile Gasset’s side have been brought back down to earth after losing three matches in a row following an unexpected five-match winning spree at the start of the Frenchman’s tenure.

Jean-Louis Gasset: “We’ve got our future in our hands.”

Marseille’s boss looked ahead at the final sprint of the Ligue 1 season in his pre-match press conference, wanting OM to finish on a high after the sting of losing Le Classique to PSG last Sunday. “Everything comes to an end, from experience. We might turn things around against LOSC. And we have to. Tomorrow, we’re going to restart a positive dynamic,” said the experienced Frenchman, adding “It’s an important match. The players are aware of that. We’ve got our future in our hands.”

LOSC Lille – Olympique de Marseille: probable lineups

Lille: Chevalier; Santos, Diakite, Yoro, Ismaily; Gudmundsson, Andre, Bentaleb; Zhegrova, David, Haraldsson

Olympique de Marseille: Lopez; Garcia, Balerdi, Gigot, Merlin; Veretout, Gueye, Harit; Henrique, Ndiaye, Aubameyang