Preview: Marseille vs. Lorient - prediction, team news, lineups

The visitors, meanwhile, will be aiming to return to winning ways after drawing against Monaco in midweek.

Match preview

Indeed, should Lens fail to beat Auxerre earlier in the day, Marseille could jump up to second in the table should they manage to put together a sixth successive league victory.

Former Hellas Verona boss Igor Tudor has settled in nicely after moving to the south of France during the summer, helping his side gain 39 points from 18 matches after their 2-0 win away to Troyes on Wednesday.

Chancel Mbemba and Jordan Veretout struck either side of half-time to hand their team a comfortable victory in the end, while their progression in the French Cup was secured with a 2-0 win against Hyeres last weekend.

Although crashing out of Europe altogether after finishing bottom in their Champions League group will remain a blemish on Tudor's copybook, it does at least allow his players additional recovery time between games for the rest of the season, potentially helping them achieve their primary aim of automatic qualification for Europe's elite competition.

Although their forthcoming opponents have defied expectations for the majority of the campaign so far, beating sides such as Lorient at Stade Velodrome could prove to be a necessary requirement if they are to do so.

Lorient's bravery in terms of replacing Christophe Pelissier with rookie manager Regis Le Bris during the summer has undoubtedly been rewarded thus far, with the 47-year-old helping his side scale the heights of the table in his first ever managerial role.

Although just one win in their last eight league games has seen them drop to sixth in the table, Les Merlus head into the weekend's action only two points adrift of Rennes and Monaco in fourth and fifth respectively, having drawn 2-2 with the latter side on Wednesday.

Lorient looked to have completed a remarkable comeback when Dango Ouattara and Terem Moffi struck within three minutes of each other after Breel Embolo's opener after the hour mark, but Wissam Ben Yedder rescued a point for the visitors in injury-time.

Le Bris's hopes of capping an excellent season so far by winning the club's second ever French Cup remain firmly in tact after beating La Chataigneraie 6-0 last weekend, too, but he will be acutely aware of the challenge lying in wait for his side in Marseille on Saturday.

Marseille Ligue 1 form:

D

W

W

W

W

W

Marseille form (all competitions):

L

W

W

W

W

W

Lorient Ligue 1 form:

L

L

D

L

W

D

Team News

Marseille will remain without Amine Harit, who is not expected to play again this season after suffering a terrible ACL injury during his side's last match prior to the World Cup, while Nuno Tavares is still out through suspension after being sent off against Montpellier.

Dimitri Payet and Jonathan Clauss could miss the rest of January due to ankle and groin injuries respectively, but Eric Bailly is available again having served his one-match ban against Troyes in midweek.

Lorient, meanwhile, will travel without Julien Laporte (hamstring) and Theo Le Bris (ankle), with the latter's uncle unlikely to make many changes to the starting XI which drew against Monaco last time out.

Moffi and Ouattara should continue in tandem in attack having bagged their 11th and sixth league goals of the season respectively on Wednesday.

Marseille possible starting lineup:

Lopez; Mbemba, Gigot, Balerdi; Kabore, Rongier, Veretout, Kolasinac; Under, Guendouzi; Sanchez

Lorient possible starting lineup:

Mannone; Kalulu, Meite, Talbi, Le Goff; Abergel, Innocent; Ouattara, Le Fee, Cathline; Moffi

We say: Marseille 2-1 Lorient

We expect a closely fought affair at Stade Velodrome on Saturday, but the hosts should have just about enough to squeeze out a sixth successive league win.

Lorient possess more than enough firepower to score against Tudor's side, but Marseille are a settled unit at present and will have vociferous support on their side.

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