Marseille vs Lens

Stade Velodrome forms the backdrop for a mouth-watering top-four Ligue 1 six-pointer between Marseille and Lens.

A pair of one-goal margin defeats to Ajaccio and PSG in the run-up to this fixture threatens to undo Marseille’s stellar nine-game unbeaten Ligue 1 start (W7, D2). Having fallen six points behind table-toppers PSG, ‘Les Olympiens’ will feel compelled to give the home crowd something to cheer about when they meet a Lens side they’ve lost to in their last two top-flight H2Hs. Since it’s already their worst H2H run in the club’s history, Marseille can only make it worse unless they find a way to avoid losing three consecutive league games for the first time since January 2021. Aware that another defeat would place them at least three points adrift of the top three, Igor Tudor’s men will be out to revive the form that helped them win their opening four home Ligue 1 outings this season.

Meanwhile, Lens eked out a narrow 1-0 home win over Montpellier last time out in response to an identical defeat at Lille on their latest Ligue 1 road trip to seize control of the third spot. However, except for a 4-1 walloping of Monaco in late August, ‘Les Sang et Or’ have gone winless on their four remaining top-flight travels this season (D3, L1), scoring just one goal across those matches. Indeed, the visitors have drawn a blank in their last two away Ligue 1 games and could go three straight top-flight travels without scoring for the first time since 2010/11. With Lens’ five league fixtures preceding this trip featuring under 1.5 total goals, scoring the opener could prove crucial for either side.