Our prediction for this Ligue 1 match:
Olympique Marseille will be aiming to put an end to their six-match winless run in Ligue 1 when they welcome Montpellier to their Stade Velodrome on Sunday evening. OM failed to make life difficult for ten-man Brest at the weekend, but the bookies still see them as favourites to beat La Paillade in front of home fans. Former Arsenal and Chelsea striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang should be recalled to the starting XI, while Jonathan Clauss serves a one-game ban due to the accumulation of yellow cards.
Montpellier, on the other hand, desperately needed a win against Metz and they managed to get one in style, with the team regaining a much-needed confidence. Michel Der Zakarian’s troops, though, are not regarded as good travellers and we do not believe that they are capable of grabbing something from the Marseille clash. Both Axel Gueguin and Christopher Jullien are out of contention with injuries.
Highlighted Player (Téji Savanier):
Born in Montpellier on December 22, 1991, Teji Savanier is a French footballer who plays for Nimes in the Ligue 1 as a midfielder. Savanier began his senior career at Arles-Avignon and it has to be noted that he played for the club from 2011 to 2015.
Ahead of the start of the 2015/2016 Ligue 2 campaign, Teji Savanier joined Nimes and he has been playing for the club ever since. The 171-cm tall midfielder has established himself as a first-team regular at Nimes and he successfully plays for the club in the French top flight. Savanier’s main position is central midfield, but he is used as an attacking midfielder as well. His preferred foot is right.
Despite producing fine performances for Nimes in all competitions, Teji Savanier has yet to receive a call-up for the French national football team. His contract with Nimes should expire on June 27, 2018.
Highlighted Team (Marseille):
Olympique de Marseille are considered one of the best French football clubs. Les Olympiens won their ninth Ligue 1 title in 2010, but winning of the 1992/1993 Champions League trophy is seen as the club’s biggest success. Marseille defeated Italian giants Milan in the title game, with Basile Boli scoring the winner (1-0) in the Olympiastadion showdown.
It has to be noted, though, that the Stade Velodrome outfit were banned from defending the title in the 1993/1994 season after being involved in a match-fixing scandal. To make things even worse for the fans, the club suffered enforced relegation to the Ligue 2. Olympique de Marseille participated in the Europa League final on two occasions (1998/1999, 2003/2004), but they were beaten by Parma and Valencia respectively in the title games. OM’s home ground Stade Velodrome was opened on June 13, 1997 and the capacity of the stadium is 67.394.
The likes of Franck Ribery, Didier Deschamps, Didier Drogba, Laurent Blanc, Fabien Barthez, Samir Nasri, Fabrizio Ravanelli and Djibril Cisse all played for Marseille in the past.