Marseille vs Strasbourg: Home club can get back to winning ways

Mat Marshall

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Last updated: 16 Sep 2019

Mat Marshall 16 Sep 2019

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Marseille can turn it around at the Velodrome

Marseille can get back to winning ways against Strasbourg at the Orange Velodrome (Getty Images).

Marseille vs Strasbourg Preview & Betting Tips

Marseille need to turn things around in Ligue 1 as they host Strasbourg at the Orange Vélodrome. The southern side have a great chance to get back to winning ways against Strasbourg with Clinton N'Jie tipped to feature in the goalscorer markets.

Olympique de Marseille

Marseille have suffered back to back defeats after a 2-1 loss against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League and a 4-2 defeat at Lyon in Ligue 1. Rudi Garcia’s side were second best in Lyon and some poor defending cost them dearly.

Garcia had to make a number of changes with the midweek fixture taking a toll but it may have backfired. Midfielder Morgan Sanson was poor with full-backs Jordan Amavi and Hiroki Sakai struggling to make an impact. Central defender Duje Caleta-Car had a bad game which was compounded with a late sending off after a rash challenge.

Expect to see Adil Rami back in defence alongside right-back Bouna Sarr with Maxime Lopez returning to midfield. Garcia has few options in attack, but Valère Germain is in line to replace Kostas Mitroglou up front and Clinton N'Jie could start after scoring off the bench in Lyon.

Clinton N'Jie — Marseille's Cameroon forward Clinton Njie scored against Lyon on Saturday (Getty Images).

RC Strasbourg

Strasbourg have had a satisfactory start to the campaign after narrowly avoiding relegation last season. Thierry Laurey’s side picked up a 3-1 home win against lowly Amiens on Saturday after trailing at half-time.

Right wing-back Kenny Lala was inspirational, scoring and assisting Benjamin Corgnet before a late own goal wrapped it up. 20-year-old Ibrahima Sissoko continues to impress in central midfield, but overall this is a team without a lot of top level talent.

Strasbourg look to keep things tight at the back, highlighted by a Ligue 1 best 3.97 expected goals against after six matches.

Head-to-Head

These clubs have met on 22 occasions with Marseille winning nine and Strasbourg six. They hadn’t met for 10 years until last season, a 3-3 draw in Strasbourg followed by a 2-0 Marseille victory at home courtesy of substitutes Clinton N'Jie and Dimitri Payet.

Match Up

Marseille don’t have many options in the attacking midfield positions outside Dimitri Payet, Lucas Ocampos and Florian Thauvin. With Europa League commitments coming thick and fast, manager Rudi Garcia needs to see what Nemanja Radonjic and Clinton N'Jie can do.

Clinton N'Jiedd — Clinton Njie could an important player for Marseille with the fixtures piling up (Getty Images).

Strasbourg don’t have great attacking weapons and will struggle to create opportunities at the Vélodrome where Marseille have had their measure.

Key Statistics

Marseille have won 5 of their last 6 home matches (Ligue 1).
Marseille have seen over 2.5 goals in their last 6 home matches (Ligue 1).
Marseille have won 5 of their last 6 home matches against Strasbourg (Ligue 1).
Strasbourg have lost 9 of their last 13 away matches (Ligue 1).
Strasbourg have failed to score in 4 of their last 6 matches at Marseille (Ligue 1).

Verdict

Marseille have to bounce back here and can do it at home against a Strasbourg side that are expected to fight against relegation.

Clinton N'Jie scored against Strasbourg last season and came off the bench to score against Lyon. If he gets the start there is great value in the goalscorer markets.

Best Bet: Marseille Win @ 1.46

Anytime Goalscorer: Clinton N'Jie @ 2.88

First Goalscorer: Clinton N'Jie @ 7.00