Marseille will be out to hit back from a disappointing midweek defeat when they take on in-form Lille at the Stade Velodrome on Sunday evening.
Les Phoceens' perfect start to the season was ended by Saint-Etienne on Thursday, while Lille made it back-to-back victories by overcoming Metz in their last outing.
Match preview
Top spot was there for the taking for Marseille heading into their clash with Saint-Etienne, but strikes from Romain Hamouma and Denis Bouanga in either half saw them lose 2-0.
Andre Villas-Boas's men struggled to find any sort of rhythm to their play, not helped by the absence of suspended pair Jordan Amavi and Dario Benedetto.
Both players were sent off late on in a highly-charged clash with Paris Saint-Germain last weekend, which Marseille edged 1-0 to make it back-to-back victories to start the season.
The loss to Saint-Etienne has set them back, though, and this is not the fixture Villas-Boas would have wanted next as his side aim to quickly hit back.
© Reuters
Les Dogues drew 1-1 with Rennes on the opening weekend of the season and have since seen off Reims and Metz by the same 1-0 scoreline, lifting them up to fourth in the table.
Going further back, Lille are unbeaten in their last six Ligue 1 games and have won five of those - their best run in the top flight since a run of eight in May 2019.
The visitors have also kept a clean sheet in seven of their last nine league matches, conceding only three goals in this period, including two against Marseille in February.
That most recent encounter finished 2-1 to Les Phoceens, making it just two wins in 13 meetings for Lille.
At the Stade Velodrome, meanwhile, Marseille have only lost one of their last nine games against Lille in Ligue 1 - a 2-1 reverse in January 2019.
Marseille Ligue 1 form: WWL
Lille Ligue 1 form: DWW
Team News
© Reuters
Benedetto is back for Marseille and will likely lead the line, but Amavi is serving the second of his three-match ban.
New signing Yuto Nagatomo was not eligible to face Saint-Etienne but is in Villas-Boas's thoughts for this match.
Left-sided attacker Dimitri Payet has scored only one goal in 963 minutes played against former team Lille in Ligue 1.
In terms of the visitors, Renato Sanches and Xeka are fitness doubts, with neither likely to be included in the starting XI.
However, left-back Reinildo is in contention after returning from a ban that kept him out against Metz.
Lille forward Jonathan Bamba has been involved in five goals against Marseille in Ligue 1 - his joint-best record against any opponent.
Marseille possible starting lineup:
Mandanda; Sarr, Gonzalez, Caleta-Carr, Nagatomo; Rongier, Kamara, Sanson; Thauvin, Benedetto, Payet
Lille possible starting lineup:
Maignan; Celik, Fonte, Botman, Bradaric; Ikone, Andre, Soumare, Bamba; Yilmaz, David
We say: Marseille 1-1 Lille
Lille have won their last four away games, keeping a clean sheet in the last three of those. Not since 2004 have they won four in a row without conceding, and we can see that run ending this weekend as they face a Marseille side determined to hit back from their midweek disappointment.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a double chance bet on a home win or draw in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home/Draw:data
Daniel Lewis
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Marseille win with a probability of 46.92%. A win for Lille had a probability of 27.73% and a draw had a probability of 25.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Marseille win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.7%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.29%) and 2-0 (8.26%). The likeliest Lille win was 0-1 (7.81%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.04%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12% likelihood.
