Marseille can leapfrog Monaco for second place in Ligue 1 with a victory against them on Sunday at Stade Velodrome in Southern France.
Last weekend, Les Phoceens claimed a 3-1 triumph at Lens, with the Principality club remaining three points above them in the table thanks to a 3-2 victory versus Brest.
Match preview
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Marseille will hope that a new month can bring them better results at home than what they experienced in October and November.
OM have just one point from their previous three league contests at Stade Velodrome, with their last domestic home triumph occurring on September 14 against Nice (2-0).
Another loss this weekend would mark the first time they will have suffered three successive league defeats in Marseille since January-February of 2021 (three).
Among the Ligue 1 sides that they have hosted more than once this century, Les Monegasques are the team that Marseille boast their lowest home winning percentage against (25%), winning just five of those 20 league meetings.
Roberto De Zerbi's defence have looked particularly vulnerable in front of their home supporters, conceding three goals in each of their previous two league games at Stade Velodrome.
After 12 Ligue 1 matchdays this season, Marseille have collected 23 points, 10 more than they had at this stage of the previous campaign.
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It was a difficult start to November domestically for Monaco, losing 1-0 to Angers, though they finished strong, winning consecutive league contests.
Les Monegasques have netted three goals in two consecutive matches in this competition but suffered their first competitive defeat of 2024-25 when scoring multiple times on Wednesday, losing 3-2 in Champions League action versus Benfica.
Monaco have suffered just one away defeat in the competition this season (2-1 at Nice) while conceding the second-fewest goals as the visitors in Ligue 1 thus far (four).
They have given up six goals in their last four domestic encounters, one more than they had allowed in their previous 11 top-flight contests, while they have not conceded multiple strikes in consecutive league games since March (two).
With 26 points after 12 top-flight fixtures in 2024-25, Adi Hutter's side have picked up two more points than they had at this stage of the competition a season ago.
In the last three meetings between these two clubs at Stade Velodrome, the visitors managed to collect at least a point while losing just one of their last five Ligue 1 affairs against them (3-2 at Stade Louis II in 2022).
Team News
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Knee issues will likely keep Ruben Blanco and Faris Moumbagna out of the Marseille lineup until mid-December, while Valentin Carboni is out with an ACL injury.
Derek Cornelius and Pol Lirola could return this weekend after each missing time with a chest problem and hamstring strain, respectively, while Amine Harit may be a few weeks away from recovering from a sore calf.
Valentin Rongier, Luis Henrique and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg found the back of the net in the second half last Saturday, enabling them to capture a third successive away triumph in Ligue 1.
On the Monaco side, Edan Diop may be available to return from a foot injury this weekend, with Krepin Diatta likely a few weeks away from recovery following his muscle injury and Folarin Balogun pushing to start after coming back from a knock in midweek as a substitute versus Benfica.
Hutter inserted four new faces into his starting 11 on matchday 12 from their previous Ligue 1 affair, as Christian Mawissa, Mohammed Salisu, Denis Zakaria and Aleksandr Golovin replaced Wilfried Singo, Caio Henrique, Lamine Camara and Takumi Minamino.
Maghnes Akliouche netted his first two goals of the competition last weekend, including the winner in second-half stoppage time, with the other strike coming courtesy of Golovin.
Marseille possible starting lineup:
Rulli; Murillo, Balerdi, Kondogbia; L. Henrique, Rongier, Hojbjerg, Rabiot; Greenwood, Wahi, Maupay
Monaco possible starting lineup:
Majecki; Vanderson, Kehrer, Salisu, Ouattara; Matazo, Magassa; Akliouche, Minamino, Golovin; Balogun
We say: Marseille 1-1 Monaco
Marseille have looked anything but convincing at home this season, but they are coming up against a Monegasque team who were left frustrated and fatigued in mid-week, so we project a stalemate on Sunday.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
