Marseille vs Paris Saint-Germain

Stade Velodrome forms the backdrop for a mouth-watering Ligue 1 showdown between Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain.

Jean-Louis Gasset’s honeymoon at Marseille ended abruptly on the cusp of March’s international break as Les Olympiens lost back-to-back competitive games after winning the first five under his stewardship. While a 3-1 second-leg loss at Villarreal did nothing to compromise their progression into the Europa League quarter-finals as 5-3 aggregate winners, a 2-0 defeat to Rennes left them outside the European qualification spots ahead of this round. With only four points separating them from fourth-placed Lille at the end of the last matchday, Marseille will be out to defy the odds and uphold their astonishing unbeaten home record this season (W13, D6). However, that could be a tall order against a PSG side they’ve lost to in five of their last six Ligue 1 H2Hs (D1) by a combined score of 12-1.

In the meantime, PSG snapped an unremarkable run of three consecutive league draws with a superb 6-2 win at Montpellier last time out, extending their lead at the table’s summit to 13 points. That success saw the record-time French champions become only the fourth side in Ligue 1 history to register 350 away league wins. As the only Ligue 1 side yet to lose a league fixture on the road this season (W9, D4), Les Parisiens ought to be confident about extending their ten-game unbeaten top-flight streak at the Velodrome (W7, D3). Luis Enrique’s men have notably dominated this fixture since the Qatari takeover, racking up 23 victories in their last 29 meetings with Marseille across all competitions (D4, L2), including a scintillating 4-0 triumph at home earlier this season.