Marseille vs Lyon Prediction: Managerless visitors to make unwelcome return

Marseille and Lyon finally lock horns at the Stade Velodrome on Wednesday night (20:00), over a month after the fixture was originally scheduled to be played.

The two sides were supposed to meet on October 29 but a violent attack on the visitors’ team bus led to its postponement.

Then-Lyon boss Fabio Grosso suffered serious facial injuries as a result of the violence, but in a cruel twist of fate, he won’t even be on the bench for this game after being sacked at the end of last month. The Italian lasted less than seven weeks at the club, winning just once in seven games.

Team News

Ex-Sheffield United forward Iliman Ndiaye is out of Wednesday’s clash as a result of the suspension he incurred for a red card in Sunday’s 2-0 win over Rennes. Gennaro Gattuso’s attacking options are further limited by the absence of the injured Joaquin Correa, so Portuguese striker Vitinha could earn a recall to the starting XI.

Lyon could opt to make changes after suffering an eighth defeat of the campaign on Saturday, but there is a clear shortage of quality and experience in reserve.

Corentin Tolisso is still out injured, leaving Tino Kadeware, Mame Balde and Duje Caleta-Car as the most experienced options to come into the line-up.

Match Odds

The home side are 7/10 to get the better of Lyon in midweek, who are 4/1 to pick up just a second away win of the season. The draw is priced at 11/4.

Both teams to score is 8/11 and it’s EVS for BTTS – No.

Marseille to win and under 3.5 goals @ 7/5

Marseille sit bang in the middle of the table after 13 games, but it’s been contrasting fortunes for them home and away this season.

Les Olympiens are statistically the worst side away from home, but 14 points from six games at the Velodrome puts them fifth in the home table having played a game fewer than those above them. They would leapfrog PSG into second in that particular table with a win on Wednesday.

Lyon are nearly as bad away from home, taking just four points from six games. They’ve lost three of their last four on the road and have only scored four goals – only Rennes (two) and Strasbourg (three) have found the net on fewer occasions.

On paper, this should be a formality for Marseille, and they should be further buoyed by their weekend win over Rennes, which followed a dramatic 4-3 victory over Ajax that secured qualification from the Europa League group stage. Lyon are in dire straits and are still yet to find a permanent manager, with Pierre Sage currently installed as interim boss.

The goals may not be flowing on Wednesday, though, with Marseille’s six home games only seeing 10 goals. Marseille to win and under 3.5 goals has won four times for them at the Velodrome in Ligue 1, while four of Lyon’s away games have seen under 3.5 goals.

Marseille to win to nil @ 15/8

The reason only 10 goals have been scored at the Velodrome in Ligue 1 is mainly down to Marseille’s defence.

Les Olympiens have kept five clean sheets in six games at home, with only Reims’ Junya Ito able to breach their backline, and that was on matchday one (August 12).

Goalkeeper Pau Lopez counts Rennes and Lille among the clubs he has shut out there, and he’ll be confident of adding Lyon – who have failed to score in half (3/6) of their away games – to that list.

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