Monaco vs Marseille

Familiar foes are set to square off at the Stade Louis II as Monaco take on bitter rivals Olympique Marseille in an intriguing Ligue 1 match-up.

Sofiane Diop’s double either side of half-time helped Monaco edge past Troyes 2-1 on the road last time out, bringing a three-game winless start to this Ligue 1 campaign to a halt (D1, L2). Desperate to move out of the bottom half of the standings, ‘Les Monégasques‘ have to improve upon their paltry scoring return of just 0.75 goals scored per league match this term. Marseille’s visit to the French principality looks like a prime opportunity for the home side to rediscover their ‘killer instincts,’ having netted 2+ goals in each of their last six top-flight H2Hs as hosts (W4, L2). Worryingly, though, Niko Kovac’s men have suffered two defeats across their last four home Ligue 1 outings (W1, D1), as many as they had in their previous 21 in the competition (W13, D6).

In the meantime, Marseille take the field in a much better form, having gone undefeated in their first three completed Ligue 1 matches (W2, D1), bagging an average of 2.66 goals per game. However, the visitors were on the verge of losing their second league trip of the season to Nice but had the fans’ unrest at the stadium to thank they dodged a bullet, considering they were 1-0 down before the encounter was deemed ‘null and void.’ Marseille’s hopes of maintaining their unbeaten start to the season could depend on shoring up their defensive leaks, with Jorge Sampaoli’s side failing to keep a clean sheet in any of their last eight completed away Ligue 1 outings (W3, D2, L3). Indeed, they are enduring their longest Ligue 1 streak without a blank sheet since April 2012 (14), having conceded at least once in each of their last ten top-flight games.