Following respective draws to kick off their European campaigns, Marseille and Rennes prepare to resume Ligue 1 action with a clash at the Orange Velodrome on Sunday afternoon.
Jorge Sampaoli's side marched to a 2-0 success over Monaco during their last league outing, while Les Rouge et Noir fell to a dampening 2-0 loss against Reims.
Match preview
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No Dimitri Payet? No Arkadiusz Milik? No problem for Marseille. Les Olympiens travelled to the Stade Louis II relying on novice attacker Seny Dieng to do the business against an underperforming Monaco, and the 21-year-old sure did deliver on the big stage.
A stellar pass from Luan Peres set Dieng away in the 37th minute as he crashed home the opener, and the starlet produced the goods once again on the hour mark, latching onto Amine Harit's ball and firing home his second of the day following a delightful turn.
While Sampaoli's men are enjoying a stellar start to the Ligue 1 season with plenty of goals in tow, their Europa League campaign began with a somewhat disappointing draw against 10-man Lokomotiv Moscow, as Cengiz Under's penalty opened the scoring before Chelsea loanee Tino Anjorin netted an 89th-minute equaliser for the Russian side.
However, Marseille's strong performances domestically have seen them rise into the top three of the rankings after five matches - above Nice following their point deduction - and Les Olympiens are now unbeaten in seven games across all competitions.
Furthermore, the arrival of Sampaoli has seen Marseille turn the Orange Velodrome into a fortress, as they have strung together a 10-game unbeaten league run on home soil, scoring at least two goals in six of their last seven on familiar territory.
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After a dismal two-minute spell against Reims - where Hugo Ekitike put the visitors ahead before Martin Terrier was forced off with an injury - Rennes could not pull themselves back into the tie against Les Rouges et Blances and succumbed to a 2-0 defeat on home soil last week.
Having seen his fellow 19-year-old open the scoring, another Reims starlet in N'Dri Philippe Koffi came off the bench to double his side's lead at the Roazhon Park to condemn Rennes to back-to-back 2-0 defeats following a previous loss against Angers.
Bruno Genesio's side also shipped two goals to Tottenham Hotspur in their Europa Conference League group-stage opener on Thursday, but they struck two times at the correct end of the pitch to claim a 2-2 draw against the Premier League outfit, as Flavien Tait and Gaetan Laborde cancelled out Loic Bade's own goal before Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg rescued a point for Spurs.
European fortunes aside, a dismal start to the 2021-22 Ligue 1 season - in which they have won just one of their opening five matches - sees Rennes occupy 11th spot in the table, and six of their last 10 away games in the top flight have ended in defeat.
An 88th-minute goal from Michael Cuisance saw Marseille claim a 1-0 win over Rennes at the Orange Velodrome last season, while Les Rouge et Noir managed to secure a 2-1 win at home, but that success represents their only victory from their last seven Ligue 1 games against Les Olympiens.
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Team News
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Back from suspension and injury, Marseille veteran Payet was an unused substitute in the Europa League but now seems set to lead the line over Dieng, with Milik's knee problem still rendering him unavailable for now.
Alvaro Gonzalez played the full 90 minutes in midweek but is suspended for his part in the crowd trouble against Nice, so Leonardo Balerdi should earn an immediate recall to the defence alongside Peres and William Saliba.
Pol Lirola and Pape Gueye will be eyeing recalls to the side here, but Sampaoli's extensive options in midfield means that some lynchpins will inevitably be left disappointed here.
With regards to Rennes, Terrier's injury prevented him from turning out against Tottenham, and he will most likely miss out here as well, while Jeremy Doku is still out with a hamstring issue.
On a brighter note, Alfred Gomis and Birger Meling both made the bench in midweek and could now come into contention for starts over Romain Salin and Adrien Truffert respectively.
Bade returns from a domestic ban and will endeavour to right the wrongs of midweek, while Kamaldeen Sulemana will continue on the left while Terrier remains in the infirmary.
Marseille possible starting lineup:
Lopez; Saliba, Balerdi, Peres; Lirola, Kamara, Guendouzi, De la Fuente; Under, Gerson; Payet
Rennes possible starting lineup:
Gomis; Traore, Bade, Aguerd, Meling; Tait, Santamaria, Bourigeaud; Laborde, Guirassy, Sulemana
We say: Marseille 2-1 Rennes
In spite of their obvious problems in the defensive third, Rennes have conducted two impressive pieces of business with Laborde and Sulemana, who ought to help the visitors break their goalscoring duck here.
However, Marseille need no lessons in finding the back of the net either and will be boosted by the return of the experienced Payet, so we can envisage Les Olympiens' unbeaten start remaining intact with another home win.
Top tip
Ben Knapton
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Marseille win with a probability of 44.57%. A win for Rennes had a probability of 28.24% and a draw had a probability of 27.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Marseille win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.44%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.76%) and 2-0 (8.51%). The likeliest Rennes win was 0-1 (9.37%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.81%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with an 8.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Marseille would win this match.
