Marseille vs Le Havre prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2025-01-04 19:45.
[p]For the fifth time since their most recent Ligue 1 title in 2009/10, Marseille have completed the first 15 rounds of a league season with at least 30 points to their name. Having finished in the top-five come season’s end on each of the four previous occasions, it looks as though manager Roberto de Zerbi is set to take a third consecutive club into European football. [/p]
[p]It’s remarkable that Marseille spent the Christmas break in second place given they have won just one of their last five league home matches (D2, L2) and have collected just one Ligue 1 clean sheet at home this term. A 1-1 draw against lowly Angers during that period indicates that no visiting opposition can be taken for granted, though relegation contenders Le Havre appear in no shape to challenge Marseille’s struggling home record. [/p]
[p]That’s not just because of Le Havre’s league-high 11 losses pre-round, but also owing to an awful 20-game winless H2H run against Marseille in the top-flight (D7, L13), including six successive losses since the turn of the century. They’ll be desperate to start afresh after ending a calendar year that was recently described by sporting director Mathieu Bodmer as “not far from catastrophic”. [/p]
[p]Manager Didier Digard must surely be on notice after they ended 2024 by being bundled out of the Coupe de France away to fourth-tier Stade Briochin, which prompted Bodmer to promise he’ll “find solutions” to their problems. One of the most pressing concerns is their league-worst haul of just 11 goals from their 15 Ligue 1 matches, which as a result saw them blank in eight of their 11 league defeats this term. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Luis Henrique directly contributed to three of Marseille’s four Coupe de France goals against Saint-Etienne last time out (G1, A2), and has subsequently won his last nine goalscoring appearances at club level. Le Havre will be hoping for another strike from midfielder Daler Kuzyaev, whose only goal of this season was scored away from home against top-three opposition (Monaco). [/p]
[p]Hot stat: Marseille conceded at least one goal in nine of their last 12 Ligue 1 wins.[/p]
[p][i]Written by Aaron Murphy[/i][/p]