Marseille vs Qarabag – Marseille will host Azerbaijani side Qarabag in the first leg of their Europa Conference League knockout playoff clash today in southern France.
The hosts are battling for a place in the round of 16 after failing to qualify for the Europa League, while their opponents qualified for this round by finishing second in their Conference League group.
Marseille’s hopes of qualifying for the Europa League this season were immediately dashed after consecutive draws with Lokomotiv Moscow, Galatasaray, and Lazio on two occasions, followed by a 4-2 defeat in the reverse fixture with Galatasaray.
While their 1-0 win over Lokomotiv Moscow in the penultimate round of fixtures was not enough to secure a knockout slot in Europe’s secondary competition, it was enough to secure a third-place finish in the group, giving them one more chance at European play this season in the Conference League.
They will face a Qarabag team that qualified for the playoffs by finishing second in their group, having opened with a draw against group favorites Basel and two successive victories over Omonia Nicosia and Kairat.
Following a 0-0 stalemate with Omonia and a 3-0 hammering at the hands of Basel in the last game, Gurban Gurbanov’s team finished second to the latter in the fight for top spot, forcing them to compete in a playoff round to qualify for the final 16.
Marseille vs Qarabag – Team News:
Marseille should be in good shape, and Sampaoli is likely to field a full-strength lineup to give them the best chance of a bright start, with key players like Dimitri Payet, Arkadiusz Milik, and Matteo Guendouzi all expected to start.
A new signing has been made. Cedric Bakambu, who joined from Beijing Guoan in January, has already scored twice in three Ligue 1 games and will aim to add to his total on Thursday.
Further back, William Saliba, who signed on loan from Arsenal in the summer, has excelled with Duje Caleta-Car or Leonardo Balerdi in the defensive line this season.
Jaime Romero, Badavi Huseynov, and first-choice goalkeeper Shahrudin Mahammadaliyev have all been injured recently for Qarabag, and they are all slated to miss out again today.
Despite making all of his appearances off the bench in the Europa Conference League group stage, Ramil Sheydayev scored two goals, and he will be hoping for a starting spot this time around.
Marseille possible starting lineup:
Lopez; Lirola, Saliba, Caleta-Car, Gueye; Guendouzi, Kamara, Gerson; Bakambu, Milik, Payet
Qarabag FK possible starting lineup:
Gugeshashvili; Vesovic, Mammadov, Medina, Bayramov; Almeida, Ibrahimly; Kady, Ozobic, Zoudir; Sheydayev
Marseille vs Qarabag – Head-to-Head:
Our Prediction: Home to Win
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