The Ligue 1 weekend gets underway on Friday night, when an in-form Auxerre side travel to face Roberto De Zerbi's Marseille at the Stade Velodrome.
Marseille moved up into second last weekend, despite shaky home form so far, while the visitors have risen sharply in the Ligue 1 standings recently on the back of some impressive results.
Match preview
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After a humbling defeat in Le Classique to Paris Saint-Germain, it was imperative that Marseille instantly bounced back, and they did just that with a 2-1 win away to Nantes last weekend.
A fine effort from Mason Greenwood saw l'OM claim all three points on the road, taking advantage of a faltering Monaco to move back into second place in Ligue 1.
Ultimately, the 3-0 defeat to PSG means a title charge looks unlikely, with the champions already looking imperious sitting six points clear, but Champions League qualification will represent good progress in De Zerbi's first season in charge.
The Italian himself said it would be a pipedream to consider challenging for the title in his first campaign at the club, considering that Luis Enrique at PSG and Adi Hutter at Monaco have had more time to shape their respective squads.
Even though De Zerbi is a newcomer to the league, questions are being raised about their poor home form so far, as the loss to PSG means they have won just one of their opening five league games at the Velodrome.
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Only Angers and bottom-of-the-table Montpellier have fewer points on home soil, and their form here is in stark contrast to that on the road, where Marseille have won five of their six matches so far.
For Auxerre, the exact opposite is true, as they have been chalk and cheese when comparing their home form with results on the road.
Apart from a surprise 2-2 draw at Lyon in their last away outing, Auxerre have lost all other four games on their travels this season.
At home though, Christophe Pelissier's side are one of the best in the division, with 12 of their 13 points coming at the Stade de l'Abbe-Deschamps, including a phenomenal 4-0 victory over Rennes last week.
Many believed their 3-0 success over Champions League competitors Brest would be the high point of their season, but the win over Rennes surpassed that already, and means they have now taken seven points from their last three games.
Having been in the relegation places just a few weeks ago, Auxerre have now moved up into 10th, and are just a couple of points off the European places.
There is no disputing this will be a very difficult evening for the visitors, though, against the team currently sat second, and a 2-1 defeat here last season means Auxerre have now lost in six of their last eight trips to the Velodrome.
Team News
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Marseille will be able to welcome Amine Harit back from suspension after his harsh sending off in Le Classique two weeks ago, and he is likely to slot back into the starting XI.
Harit's offensive partner Greenwood added to his tally again last week, taking him to seven Ligue 1 goals for the season, only one behind the current leader Bradley Barcola.
On the injury front, Derek Cornelius was forced off just 15 minutes after coming on against Nantes last week and could miss out alongside injured trio Faris Moumbagna, Valentin Carboni and Ulisses Garcia.
Auxerre have a crisis at centre-back heading into this clash, as both Jubal and Sinaly Diomande will miss this game through suspension.
With Paul Joly and Ange Loic N'Gatta also out injured, that leaves Pelissier with very few options in defence, so if the manager wants to stick with his back three, the under-used Theo Pellenard may be drafted in, as well as former Luton Town defender Gabriel Osho.
Marseille possible starting lineup:
Rulli; Lirola, Balerdi, Brassier, Merlin; Kondogbia, Hojbjerg; Greenwood, Harit, Luiz Henrique; Rowe
Auxerre possible starting lineup:
Leon; Osho, Akpa, Pellenard; Hoever, Owusu, Danois, Mensah; Perrin, Bair, Hamed Traore
We say: Marseille 3-1 Auxerre
Despite suffering from peculiarly poor home form so far, Marseille will again be big favourites ahead of this clash, and will look to take advantage of playing earlier to close the gap on PSG.
Auxerre have not travelled well so far this season, and without two key defenders due to suspension, they could struggle to keep this impressive Marseille attack at bay.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Andrew Delaney
