Marseille vs Lille prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2022-09-09 19:00.
Igor Tudor will see no reason to panic as he tries to bounce back from his first defeat as Marseille boss. The manager, who had picked up five wins and a draw since taking charge of the club this summer, claimed his side “dominated” Spurs in the UEFA Champions League in midweek, and it was perhaps only defender Chancel Mbemba’s red card that paved the way for their eventual 2-0 defeat.
Otherwise it’s been a blistering month for Marseille, who are enjoying their best start to a Ligue 1 season since 2012/13 – when they won their opening six games before finishing runners up to PSG. Marseille are also second after matchday six (W5, D1), albeit only on a goal difference, and having won seven of their last eight league home games whilst scoring 18 goals in the process, Tudor will know that maintaining Marseille’s devastating home form will be crucial if they’re to challenge for the title this season.
Goals are the order of the day whenever opponents Lille are in action too, given both teams have netted in each of their six outings under new boss Paulo Fonseca (W3, D1, L2). They beat Montpellier 3-1 at the weekend, but even that result did not satisfy the manager, who claimed afterwards his side should have scored “more”.
Surely a more pressing issue for Fonseca is his side’s consistency, given the Mastiffs have not won back-to-back games in six months. They’ve been strong on the road though, suffering just three defeats in the previous 15 league away fixtures (W8, D4), a run that includes three victories and two draws after conceding the first goal, so we can perhaps expect the Marseille backline to be working overtime in this contest.
Players to watch: Marseille star Dimitri Payet has won just three of his 17 meetings with Lille (D8, L6), despite registering five assists. Meanwhile Jonathan David has netted more times against Marseille than any other club, with three of his four goals coming after the 90th minute!
Hot stat: Marseille have not won five successive Ligue 1 games since October – December 2020.