Marseille vs Lyon prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2023-10-28 19:45.
Ahead of the 123rd Choc des Olympiques, Marseille (W38, D42, L42) are nine points better off than Lyon, with both former Ligue 1 winners having fallen a long way from previous glories. Beating AEK Athens 3-1 in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday was a timely boost for the home side following last weekend’s 1-0 defeat to Nice, in which defender Jonathan Clauss and goalkeeper Pau López both suffered injuries.
While Clauss featured in midweek, López remains doubtful as manager Gennaro Gattuso gets his first taste of a big French derby, although his time at Milan and Rangers makes him no stranger to such high-profile occasions. He’ll be well aware of what’s at stake and not taking anything for granted as while mid-table Marseille (W3, D3, L3) did the double over Lyon last term, they have only won two of the last six H2Hs they hosted (D1, L3) and have never won three consecutive top-flight H2Hs.
Gattuso knows opposite number Fabio Grosso well as the pair were part of Italy’s 2006 FIFA World Cup-winning squad, but it’s a vastly different experience for the latter at basement-dwelling Lyon. Still winless having made their worst ever start to a Ligue 1 season (D3, L6), the club appears in disarray as according to reports, he cancelled a training session this week to try to identify the source of dressing room leaks!
Following last weekend’s 2-1 defeat to Clermont, which left them bottom of the table, Grosso urged his players “to feel the responsibility and want to get out of it”. Yet Lyon have barely landed a punch during their last three league away games (D1, L2) and are goalless across three such fixtures for the first time since October 2016, a run which started with a 0-0 H2H draw at the Stade Vélodrome!
Players to watch: Jordan Veretout scored to put Marseille two goals ahead in two of their last four games, and assisted the decisive goal in last season’s 1-0 H2H win here. While Lyon’s Corentin Tolisso netted against PSG in September, he’s more likely to be yellow carded having already collected three this term – two of them before half-time.
Hot streak: There was a red card shown between the 35th and 80th minute in each of Marseille’s last three fixtures.