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Marseille play host to Nimes at the Stade Velodrome on Saturday as the Ligue 1 action continues.
Last season’s runners-up, Marseille are currently sitting in sixth place, but could move into fourth with a win over Nimes. The visitors are currently the bottom side in Ligue 1.
Nimes will be aiming to pull off an upset, but Andre Villas-Boas’ side are expected to pick up a valuable win.
Marseille vs Nimes Head-to-Head
After going on a tremendous run from mid-October to mid-December – a run that saw six straight wins – Marseille have slipped recently.
Marseille are now on a run of just one victory in five games, and last weekend saw them stutter badly against Ligue 1 strugglers Dijon. They drew 0-0 with the relegation battlers.
Meanwhile, in midweek Marselle fell to defeat at the hands of Paris St. Germain in the final of the Trophee des Champions.
Scoring goals has been Marseille’s main issue this season, even during that strong run. They’ve scored 25 goals this season, the least of any side in the league's top nine right now.
Nimes, meanwhile, have slipped into a diabolical run after shooting out of the blocks with a 4-0 opening day win over Brest. Since 16 October, they’ve picked up just one win, and are currently on a winless streak of eight matches.
More worryingly, just one of those eight games was a draw – a 2-2 tie with Saint-Etienne on 20 December. Their most recent match saw them fall to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Lille.
Nimes have scored just 14 goals in their opening 19 games, while conceding a horrendous total of 40.
Marseille form guide: D-L-W-D-L
Nimes form guide: L-D-L-L-L
Marseille vs Nimes Team News
Marseille
Winger Luis Henrique will miss out on this game due to a bout of COVID-19, but he is expected to return before the end of the month. A muscle tear has also sidelined left-back Jordan Amavi.
Injured: Jordan Amavi
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Unavailable: Luis Henrique
Nimes
Nimes have a number of injuries to deal with leading into this game, with five players sidelined. Clement Depres, Antoine Valerio, Pablo Martinez, Loick Landre and Sidy Sarr will all miss out due to various injuries.
Injured: Sidy Sarr, Loick Landre, Pablo Martinez, Clement Depres, Antoine Valerio
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Marseille vs Nimes Predicted XI
Marseille predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Steve Mandanda, Hiroki Sakai, Alvaro Gonzalez, Duje Caleta-Car, Yuto Nagatomo, Boubacar Kamara, Pape Gueye, Florian Thauvin, Dimitri Payet, Nemanja Radonjic, Dario Benedetto
Nimes predicted XI (4-2-3-1): Baptiste Reynet, Sofiane Alakouch, Anthony Briancon, Lucas Deaux, Birger Meling, Adrian Cubas, Lamine Fomba, Zinedine Ferhat, Renaud Ripart, Niclas Eliasson, Nolan Roux
Marseille vs Nimes Prediction
Marseille’s form has been poor of late, but this seems like a great opportunity for them to right the ship.
Nimes haven’t really looked like a Ligue 1 quality side for the majority of the current campaign, and their penchant for shipping goals is worrying.
We are expecting this to be a comfortable win for Andre Villas-Boas’ side.
Prediction: Marseille 3-0 Nimes
