Marseille VS Reims - France Ligue 1 Match Preview

Match Time：12/20/2020 02:00 Sunday  (GMT+8)

France Ligue 1 --  Marseille   VS   Reims

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Marseille will be aiming to bounce back from their midweek defeat to Rennes when they welcome Reims to the Orange Velodrome on Sunday morning. In contrast, the struggling visitors managed to pick up a vital three points on Wednesday as they overcame Nantes 3-2 at home.

 

Match preview

Marseille and Rennes had both seen their Champions League journeys end in the group stage, but Les Olympiens had continued to perform domestically, which is more than can be said for Rennes. Andre Villas-Boas's men quickly took the lead at the Roazhon Park through Pape Gueye, but the 21-year-old was soon given his marching orders for two yellow cards before the half-time whistle blew, which allowed Rennes to turn the game on its head in the second 45.Hamari Traore and Adrien Hunou's goals saw Les Rouge et Noir march to their second victory in a row and end Marseille's winning streak, with Les Olympiens prevailing in their last six top-flight matches before that narrow defeat to Rennes in midweek.However, Montpellier failed to take advantage of Marseille's defeat as they lost to Metz, and with Lyon only managing to take a point from their clash with Brest, the top three is still within touching distance for Villas-Boas's men.Marseille, who currently sit three points adrift of third-placed Lyon, could find themselves in the top three by the close of play this weekend, but they would have to hope for a six-goal swing in their favour as Lyon travel to Nice on the same evening. Reims certainly do not have the look of a side who qualified for the Europa League last term, but David Guion's men picked up a crucial three points against fellow strugglers Nantes in midweek.Nantes captain Nicolas Pallois ensured that his team went into half time with a 1-0 lead, but a flurry of goals from El Bilal Toure, Boulaye Dia and Mathieu Cafaro put Reims out of sight before Ludovic Blas added a late consolation for Les Canaris. With Lorient, Nimes and Dijon all losing in midweek, Reims managed to open up a two-point gap between themselves and the bottom three, and Guion's men could potentially rise as high as 14th should results go their way this weekend.However, defeat for Les Rouges et Blances gives Nimes and Lorient - who play Saint-Etienne and Rennes respectively - the opportunity to leapfrog Reims, who would drop to 19th with defeat if their two relegation rivals both triumph this weekend. Marseille have only managed to prevail in one of their last six matches against Reims, though, with Guion's men managing to win 2-0 at the Orange Velodrome last season.

 

Marseille Ligue 1 form: WWWWWL

Marseille form (all competitions): WWWLWL

 

Reims Ligue 1 form: DLLDLW

 

Team News

Marseille's Gueye will play no part in this one following his sending off in midweek, but Duje Caleta-Car returns from his own suspension and should slot in at centre-back in place of Leonardo Balerdi.Michael Cuisance is in line to replace Gueye in midfield, with Morgan Sanson unlikely to feature as he nurses a hamstring problem.Jordan Amavi had only just made his comeback from injury before being forced off after 20 minutes against Rennes, so Yuto Nagatomo is set for a start on Saturday.Reims have very few absentees to contend with at this moment in time, with Greek striker Anastasios Donis the only injury concern as he recovers from an ankle problem, but Valon Berisha and Yunis Abdelhamid are reportedly fitness doubts.Cafaro will hope to have done enough to warrant a starting place with his goal against Nantes, while Nathanael Mbuku should return to the fold after being rested in midweek.

 

Marseille possible starting lineup: Mandanda; Sakai, Gonzalez, Caleta-Car, Nagatomo; Kamara, Rongier, Cuisance; Thauvin, Benedetto, Payet

Reims possible starting lineup: Rajkovic; Foket, Faes, Abdelhamid, Konan; Mbuku, Munetsi, Berisha, Cafaro; Dia, Toure

 

Marseille VS Reims

Marseille 2-0 Reims

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