Marseille vs Clermont – When Clermont visits the Orange Velodrome for a Ligue 1 match on Sunday, Marseille will be looking to make it three wins in a row in all competitions.
In Tuesday, Jorge Sampaoli’s side defeated Qarabag 3-1 in the Europa Conference League, while the visitors have not played since losing 2-1 to Saint-Etienne last weekend.
Marseille did not intend to start their European journey in the Europa League this season with a spot in the Europa Conference League, but they have at least gotten off to a good start against Azerbaijani giants Qarabag.
On the stroke of halftime, Les Olympiens’ Arkadiusz Milik scored twice in quick succession before Kady’s equalizer made things intriguing, but Dimitri Payet rounded off the scoring in injury time to give Marseille a comfortable first-leg lead in the playoff stage.
Marseille enter gameweek 25 second in the table, 13 points behind runaway leaders Paris Saint-Germain. Milik’s brilliance was also on display during a 2-1 win over Metz in the top flight earlier this month, and Nice’s sudden downturn in fortunes means that Marseille enter gameweek 25 second in the table.
Taking six points from six games against Rennes and Nice earlier in 2022 undoubtedly drew attention to Pascal Gastien’s Clermont, but a basement duel with Saint-Etienne on February 13 did not go the Lanciers’ way, as they were defeated 2-1.
Before the halftime whistle, Cedric Hountondji’s header gave Clermont a 1-0 lead, but Mahdi Camara latched onto Sada Thioub’s ball to equalize for Saint-Etienne, and Timothee Kolodziejczak scored the game-winner in the 82nd minute.
While Saint-chances Etienne’s of survival improved as a result of that match, Clermont’s have not suffered too much of a setback, as the newly promoted side currently sits in 15th position in the table, four points clear of the bottom two.
Marseille vs Clermont – Team News:
For this match, Marseille manager Sampaoli has no injury or suspension-related absentees to contend with, but he will need to examine some jellied legs due to the short turnaround in fixtures.
In line with the Emirates theme, Arsenal loanee William Saliba will hope to unseat Leonardo Balerdi at the back, while Sead Kolasinac, who set up Milik’s acrobatic winner against Metz, might be in contention for a start.
Payet was also only used as a substitute in midweek, but he is expected to return to the starting lineup here, as Cedric Bakambu and Bamba Dieng compete for the second final third slot with hotshot Milik.
Meanwhile, in the defeat to Saint-Etienne, Clermont forward Elbasan Rashani suffered an apparent ankle injury, joining fellow casualty Jean-Claude Billong in the same region.
Owing to personal reasons, Josue Albert and Florent Ogier are unavailable, although Johan Gastien has been suffering from diarrhea, and Vital Nsimba missed training earlier this week due to an adductor concern.
Should Rashani be relegated to the bench, Jodel Dossou and Jim Allevinah are ready to step in, while Arial Mendy could be called upon to fill in for N’Simba at left-back.
Marseille possible starting lineup:
Lopez; Lirola, Saliba, Caleta-Car, Peres; Kamara, Gerson, Guendouzi; Payet; Milik, Bakambu
Clermont possible starting lineup:
Djoco; Zedadka, Hountondji, Seidu, Mendy; Berthomier, Magnin, Abdul Samed; Da Cunha, Bayo, Allevinah
Marseille vs Clermont – Head-to-Head:
Our Prediction: Home to Win
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