Lille, OM to get down to business
27/07/2011
There will be a host of new faces on display as last season's top two teams renew their rivalry kick off their new campaigns with the Trophée des Champions in Tangiers, Morroco on Wednesday night at 20:45 CET.
Wednesday, 27 July, 2011
Trophée des Champions
Grand Stade de Tangiers, Tangiers, Morocco
LOSC Lille Métropole - Olympique de Marseille
>> Live scoring from 20:45 CET
The battle for last season's league title went right down to the wire as Marseille fought hard to prevent Lille from taking their Ligue 1crown, and the rivalry between last season's top two sides will be revived as Marseille look to prevent Lille from taking another of their titles - the Trophée des Champions - as the curtain-raiser for the 2011-12 season kicks off at Tangiers' state-of-the-art Grand Stade on Wednesday night.
Both sides have seen a number of comings and goings since the close of last season, and Wednesday's match - before which a minute's silence will be observed in honour of the victims of the recent air disaster in Morocco - will be the first chance for the public to see what Rudi Garcia and Didier Deschamps have in store for Ligue 1 this season.
New-look squads
Champions Lille have seen some hugely talented players - Gervinho, Yohan Cabaye and Adil Rami - leave since May, but will have promising new striker Ronny Rodelin, deep-lying playmaker Benoît Pedretti and central defender Marko Basa in their line-up as they look to put their mixed pre-season results (a win, a draw and two losses) behind them.
Garcia has a number of injury concerns, notably in the form of star recruit Dimitri Payet (knee) - whose participation is uncertain - while Brazilian target-man Tulio De Melo (periosteum) and Poland international Ludovic Obraniak (calf) have been ruled out.
Defensive questions
Deschamps meanwhile has had to reconfigure his backline following the departures of Gabriel Heinze and Taye Taiwo, and so is likely to hand a first start in official competition to new left-back Jérémy Morel with an eye on tightening things up at the back after defensive errors led to a 2-1 los to Udinese at the weekend.
The OM midfield should also have a new look with France captain Alou Diarra, newly signed from Bordeaux, slotting into his habitual defensive midfield role while ex-Lorient playmaker Morgan Amalfitano should pull the strings in attack.
Probable teams:
Lille: Landreau; Béria (or Debuchy), Basa, Chedjou, Souaré (or Béria); Balmont, Mavuba (c), Pedretti; Payet (or Rodelin), M. Sow, Hazard
Marseille: Mandanda (c); Fanni, S. Diawara, Mbia, Morel; M. Amalfitano, A. Diarra, Be. Cheyrou; Valbuena, Rémy, A. Ayew