Our prediction for this Ligue 1 match:
Marseille
Match Time & Date:
12/01/2024
02:00 PM
Prediction: 2-1
Strasbourg
Friday’s football game between Olympique Marseille and Strasbourg will open round 18 of the new Ligue 1 campaign. OM aim to move closer to the Champions League berth and we are positive that they will go all guns blazing at Le Racing. Keep in mind, though, that Marseille head into the match with a severely-weakened squad as all Mbemba, Harit, Ounahi, Sarr, Gueye, and Ngapandouetnbu are on international duty. As a result, talented Morocco midfielder Bilal Nadir is widely expected to start against Strasbourg.
The visitors, on the other hand, faced no difficulties in the Coupe de France win (4-0) over Avoine, but they will have a much bigger fish to fry against Marseille. Despite the aforementioned absentees, OM boss Gennaro Gattuso still has a number of high-profile players to choose from and we predict that the Champions League-chasing hosts are going to pick up all three points from the match. Saidou Sow is on international duty, while all Thomas Delaine, Lebo Mothiba, and Ismael Doukoure are injured for the visiting team.
Highlighted Player (Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang):
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the most famous Gabonese player and he is the first footballer from Gabon to appear in Bundesliga. Aubameyang played for the likes of Dijon, Lille, Monaco and St. Etienne in the past before joining Borussia Dortmund on July, 2013. The pacey attacker signed a five-year contract with the Millionaires and he has been producing outstanding performances with the Signal-Iduna-Park outfit ever since.
Aubameyang impressed in the 2015–16 Bundesliga, scoring 25 goals in 31 appearances for Borussia Dortmund, but that did not help Thomas Tuchel’s men win the domestic trophy. Speaking of his international career, the 187-cm-tall striker made his Gabon debut on 25 March, 2009 and he scored his first goal for the national team in a 3-2 win over Morocco.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang helped Gabon make it to the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals. It has to be noted, though, that he played for France U-21 team in the past. Aubameyang was born in Laval, France on 18 June, 1989.
Highlighted Team (Strasbourg):
Founded back in 1906, Strasbourg is a professional football team that compete in French Ligue 1. Le Racing did remarkably well to win the 1979 Ligue 1 trophy and that is considered the biggest success in the history of the club. Strasbourg won Coupe de France on three occasions (1951, 1966, 2001) and they have three Coupe de la Ligue trophies as well (1964, 1997, 2005). Strasbourg’s main rivals are Metz and the two teams face each other in the Derby de l’Est (The Eastern derby).
Le Racing recorded their biggest victory over Valenciennes (10-0) in the 1937-1938 season, whilst they suffered their biggest loss to Limoges (0-8) in the 1959/1960 season. Paraguayan goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert, who is well known for his free-kick abilities, played for the club from 2000 to 2003, but he failed to score in a league match during his spell with the Stade de la Meinau outfit. Speaking of Stade de la Meinau, Strasbourg’s home ground was opened back in 1914 and the capacity of the venue is 29,320.
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Lazio 
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