The showpiece event in Ligue 1 this weekend takes place on Sunday night at the Orange Velodrome as Marseille and Lyon meet in the latest instalment of the Choc des Olympiques.
Three places and four points separate the two sides in the table at present, with Igor Tudor's men occupying fifth place while Les Gones languish in eighth position.
Match preview
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Despite the best efforts of the Marseille fans who were letting off fireworks outside the Tottenham Hotspur hotel in the early hours of the morning, Les Olympiens crashed out of Europe altogether after succumbing to a last-minute winner in that Champions League Group D battle.
A dominant first half from the host was capped off by Chancel Mbemba opening the scoring, but Clement Lenglet responded with a header of his own before Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg sent Tottenham through to the last 16 with virtually the last kick of the match, condemning Marseille to a fourth-placed finish.
With no more continental football on the menu for the rest of the season, Tudor - who had crossed onto the pitch while barking orders at his Marseille side before Hojbjerg's winner - can focus all his efforts on reigniting a faltering domestic season for Les Olympiens, who threw away a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Strasbourg last weekend.
Having taken just one point from their last four Ligue 1 games during a dismal spell of form, Marseille have dropped to fifth in the table behind Lens, Lorient and Rennes and are now three points adrift of the Champions League places, while Monaco are only behind them on goal difference.
From sweeping aside teams for fun in the summer to losing four and drawing one of their last five matches, juggling domestic and European football remains a problem for Marseille, who have suffered three successive home defeats ahead of the visit of their Olympique rivals.
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While Marseille continue to falter, Lyon are still enjoying the new manager bounce under Laurent Blanc, who led his side to successive wins in Ligue 1 for the first time since September 3 with a hard-fought 1-0 success over Lille last weekend.
Anthony Lopes and the crossbar did save Lyon's bacon on occasion, but Alexandre Lacazette was on song to tap home his eighth goal of the season from Nicolas Tagliafico's cross and keep Les Gones' revival going under Blanc.
Of course, Lyon can empathise with Marseille after also enduring a horrendous run of five defeats and a draw from six games before Blanc worked his magic, and their recent wins over Montpellier HSC and Lille have helped Les Gones climb up to eighth as they aim to upset the European apple cart.
However, Blanc's charges are yet to keep a clean sheet away from home this season, and not since the end of the 2020-21 campaign have Lyon managed to win successive Ligue 1 games away from home, which only highlights their fall from grace further.
Nevertheless, Lyon did the double over Marseille by an aggregate score of 5-1 last term - winning 2-1 at home before thumping Les Olympiens 3-0 at the Orange Velodrome - and the hosts have only prevailed in one of the last 10 editions of the Choc des Olympiques in all tournaments.
Team News
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Eric Bailly's luck is just not in at the moment, as the Manchester United loanee had only just returned from one injury before being taken off with a thigh problem against Spurs, and he is not expected to be available for the Choc des Olympiques.
Tudor will therefore be grateful to have Samuel Gigot back from a two-game domestic suspension for Sunday evening's game, and the hosts should otherwise be working with a fully-fit squad for the visit of Lyon.
The likes of Dimitri Payet, Cengiz Under and Bamba Dieng are all options for rotation for Tudor here, while Issa Kabore could also earn another opportunity on the right after scoring in the draw with Strasbourg.
Likewise, Lyon have a centre-back of their own returning from suspension in the form of Sinaly Diomande, who is sure to replace Damien Da Silva after the former Rennes man only lasted 45 minutes of the clash with Lille.
Only long-term absentees Julian Pollersbeck and Corentin Tolisso should miss out for Les Gones, who should once again set up in a 3-5-2 system with Lacazette and Moussa Dembele leading the line.
Blanc's new system has forced the likes of Tete, Rayan Cherki, Karl Toko Ekambi and Romain Faivre to accept peripheral roles in the setup, and the four wide man should all take their spots on the sidelines for this game.
Marseille possible starting lineup:
Lopez; Mbemba, Balerdi, Gigot; Clauss, Veretout, Guendouzi, Tavares; Payet, Under; Sanchez
Lyon possible starting lineup:
Lopes; Lukeba, Boateng, Diomande; Gusto, Mendes, Aouar, Caqueret, Tagliafico; Dembele, Lacazette
We say: Marseille 1-2 Lyon
Both the form book and recent results suggests that Marseille will enter this Choc des Olympiques as the underdogs, and Lyon boss Blanc has already passed one true test of his mettle against Lille.
Winning more than once away from home has been a fruitless endeavour for Lyon for several months, but with Marseille low on morale and struggling to perform in front of their own fans, a third successive victory could be Blanc's in the weekend's Ligue 1 finale.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Ben Knapton
