Olympique de Marseille and Olympique Lyonnais face off in the 100th 'Olympico' on Sunday with ambitions of maintaining unbeaten runs to kickstart their stumbling starts to the 2020/21 Ligue 1 Uber Eats season.
Olympique Lyonnais - Olympique de Marseille
- Kick-off at 21:00 CET (19:00 GMT)
Lyon are unbeaten in their last six home games while Marseille have won their last five away trips in Ligue 1 Uber Eats, but both teams come into their Round 6 encounter with form proving an elusive commodity.
Lyon's need is slightly greater than their hosts given Rudi Garcia's men have not managed to score a win since their 4-1 win over Dijon which opened their 2020/21 top-flight campaign.
WATCH: See what happened when OM and OL met last season
Since then, they have managed to score just twice and only once from open play in a four-game run that has brought the meagre return of just four points.
"We cannot be happy with that point. We didn't play well, even if our second half performance should have won it for us," said coach Rudi Garcia following his team's 1-1 draw at FC Lorient last Sunday during which he swapped from a back three to a flat back four.
"The first half was poor, but that was my fault because it wasn't the right system and the right team. There were too many people on the ball, not enough help for Moussa Dembélé. It's another two points dropped, and a slow start that is not to my liking at all."
Garcia's preparations have not been helped by the speculation surrounding the future of a number of key members of his squad. While Memphis Depay, who started on the bench in Brittany, has been linked with a move to Barcelona, Houssem Aouar's name has been linked to Arsenal. Jeff Reine-Adélaïde, who missed the Lorient trip with injury, is another whose name has been mentioned as a potential departee ahead of the close of the transfer window on 5 October.
"We're going to keep working, to show the players we could do things more simply and with more movement. But we need the transfer window to finish and that it finishes before Marseille so we can prepare the game as well as possible, because we really need to win it," explained Garcia, who coached OM between 2016 and 2019. "We can't prepare for Marseille with players and then they're not on the teamsheet at the last minute."
Garcia saw Brazilian midfielder Lucas Paqueta added to his squad on a five-year deal on Thursday, and the new arrival from AC Milan could feature. OM, meanwhile, could also give a debut to their new Brazilian signing, forward Luis Henrique.
Picked up from Botafogo, the 18-year-old is set to make his first appearance in European football, and is expected to challenge Dario Benedetto for the starting role as a central attacker despite coming through as a winger.
"Why not! I've never played number 9 with the pros. Since I was very little, I've always played on the flanks. If they want to use me in that position, I'll have to train hard," he said.
"I think I can help the team. I can get behind the defence, be direct, give good passes…"
OM need the impetus after their lacklustre 1-1 draw with FC Metz last time out, their third successive home game without a win. Like against LOSC Lille in Round 4, it would have been a defeat but for a late goal — Morgan Sanson's strike five minutes into added time salvaged a point that was only barely deserved.
WATCH: Sanson snatches OM a point at home to Metz
Alvaro Gonzalez will be available after the LFP's Disciplinary Commission found no evidence he had racially abused Neymar during the tempestuous Classique at Paris Saint-Germain in Round 3.
OM may also have an eye on their upcoming UEFA Champions League challenge — the competition in which Lyon reached the semi-finals last season — following Thursday's group stage draw which pitted them against Olympiacos, Manchester City and coach Andre Villas-Boas' hometown club, Porto.
"We were drawn against the club of my heart, and it's very difficult emotionally. It's a team I didn't want to come up against," explained AVB, who coached Porto to a league-cup-Europa League treble in 2010/11, becoming the youngest coach to win a European competition aged 33.
"It's a great privilege to be in the draw, because we've worked hard to enjoy this and be in this competition. It's OM's return to the competition. I hope we'll be able to give our fans hope and project a good image of OM in this competition."
Probable teams
Lyon: Lopes - Dubois, Denayer, Marcelo, Cornet (or Bard) - Guimaraes, Caqueret, Aouar - Toko-Ekambi, Dembélé, Depay (c)
OM: Mandanda (c) - Sakai, Alvaro, Caleta-Car, Amavi - Rongier, Kamara, Sanson - Thauvin, Benedetto, Payet
