Marseille vs Montpellier prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2024-02-24 19:45.
New Marseille boss Jean-Louis Gasset made a winning start as the Olympians progressed to the last 16 of the Europa League by beating Shakhtar Donetsk on Thursday. That ended a seven-match winless run (D4, L3) that ultimately saw off former coach Gennaro Gattuso, leaving Gasset with plenty of work to do to rescue a faltering Ligue 1 campaign.
Marseille enter the round in mid-table having won just seven of their 22 league matches to date (D9, L6) – a rotten record which leaves them six points adrift of the European places. But although they’ve failed to win any of their last three home league games (D3), the Olympians remain the only side yet to taste defeat on their own turf in Ligue 1 (W6, D5), conceding just six times across those matches.
Relegation-threatened Montpellier will therefore need to be wary at the Orange VĂ©lodrome as they go in search of just a third-ever away H2H victory (D15, L22). Confidence should be high after a priceless 3-0 victory over fellow strugglers Metz last weekend created a five-point gap between La Paillade and the automatic relegation places, and ended a five-match winless run in Ligue 1 (D2, L3).
Facing top-half opposition looks fraught with danger for Michel Der Zakarian’s men though, as all of their five Ligue 1 victories so far this season have come against sides currently in the bottom half. Combine that with a lousy recent travelling record that’s seen Montpellier win just one of their last six away league games (L5) while scoring just two total goals, and it’s easy to see why they’re underdogs here.
Players to watch: Fresh from becoming the Europa League’s all-time top scorer, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will be looking to add to his 16-goal haul this term and Marseille will be hungry for him to do so, as the last time he netted and was on the losing side over 90 minutes was in December 2019! Wing-back Issiaga Sylla has been increasingly dangerous for Montpellier in recent weeks, directly contributing to goals in back-to-back league matches (G1, A1).
Hot stat: Marseille have scored 16 of their 29 Ligue 1 goals inside the opening 30 minutes of games.