Olympique de Marseille vs Bordeaux 06/02/19

06 February 2019

Faced with a severe crisis, Olympique de Marseille welcome Bordeaux to the Stade Velodrome going after the first home triumph following five successive failures (D2, L3).

The Champions League promotion already seems like an unachievable goal considering Marseille currently trail third-placed Lyon by 12 points, but the Phocaeans can still qualify for the Europa League. A poor haul of just five points in their last seven Ligue 1 outings (W1, D2, L5) is the main reason fourth-placed Sti. Ettiene have a six-point lead over the Olympians. Not only Rudi Garcia’s men picked up only one triumph in the previous 12 games across all competitions (W1, D3, L8), but they enter this round with two consecutive L1 defeats. Marseille’s principal problem in the past two months has been lack of creativity in the final third that has seen them score under 1.5 goals per match in ten straight competitive meetings. The defense has also failed to provide stability, conceding over 1.5 goals per match four of Marseille’s last six games.

On the other hand, the visitors have gone from two consecutive victories to back-to-back losses across all competitions, with both of their failures coming against Strasbourg on the road. Pretty uncomfortable away from home, the Girondins have pulled off only one triumph on their last seven L1 road trips (W1, D3, L3). Just 32% of 28 points they’ve collected so far came on the road, which is the second-worst record in the French top tier. What’s more, Bordeaux’s tally of seven goals scored away from home is the second-lowest, with Ricardo Gomes’ players failing to hit the net in six of ten away clashes this campaign. But, thanks to a solid defense that has allowed 11 goals, just 30% of Bordeaux’s road meetings have produced over 2.5 goals.

Provisional line-up – Olympique de Marseille:

Gk: Mandanda Defense: Amavi – Kamara – Rolando – Bouna Sarr Midfield: Maxime Lopez – Luiz Gustavo – Strootman – Ocampos Attack: Balotelli – Germain

Provisional line-up – Bordeaux:

Gk: Costil Defense: Kounde – Jovanovic – Poundje – Palencia Midfield: Toma Basic – Otavio – Karamoh Attack: Briand – Kamano – Cornelius