Montpellier vs Marseille prediction: FRANCE: Ligue 1 betting tips on match 2023-12-19 20:00.
After ending a six-game winless run (D3, L3) with a 1-0 win away to Metz over the weekend, Montpellier have the chance to end their 2023 schedule with their first set of consecutive league wins since April. Sitting just four points above the drop zone ahead of this round, ending a three-game winless run of home meetings against Marseille (D1, L2) could be key to entering 2024 with an increased buffer to the relegation zone.
Montpellier damningly scored six times and led twice across those winless home H2Hs, so shoring up that porous backline will be key to any H2H resurgence. Fortunately for the hosts, they enter this on the back of consecutive league clean sheets, although it has been just over five years (November 2018) since they last put together a run of three Ligue 1 shutouts in succession, the third of which was ironically a 3-0 home win over Marseille!
With springtime European football and a healthy top-four challenge to look forward to in 2024, things are going well for Marseille after they posted a fourth straight Ligue 1 victory over the weekend. That’s the longest ongoing winning run of any side in the division, yet it is one that could come under threat here as Marseille have won just one away league game all season (W1, D3, L4).
Granted, that win did come in their latest trip but only two sides have accrued fewer away points than the Olympians’ six ahead of the round and that accounts for just 23% of their total haul. Unsurprisingly, that means that Marseille have a larger differential (+1.75) between points per game at home (2.5) and away (0.75) than any side in Ligue 1, something that must be addressed in the fight for the top four.
Players to watch: Two African hitmen could steal the show here as Montpellier’s Premier League-linked Nigerian striker Akor Adams (G7) has scored twice in three of his four scoring appearances for the club. As for Marseille, former Premier League star and Gabonese international Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang enters this clash in supreme form, making 11 goal contributions in his last six appearances (G7, A4) and picking up three Flashscore Man of the Match accolades in the process.
Hot stat: Only two sides have failed to score in more Ligue 1 games than Montpellier’s seven so far this season (44%).