Montpellier Hérault SC - Olympique de Marseille Sunday at 20:45 CET (1845 GMT)

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There is always a sense of promise and excitement at the start of a new season. Ligue 1 is returning after an 11-week break and fans are back too, with up to 13,500 expected at the Stade de la Mosson for Sunday evening’s meeting of these two clubs from France’s Mediterranean coast.

More than half of the clubs in the top flight have changed coach and Montpellier and Marseille are among them. At the Vélodrome, Jorge Sampaoli’s appointment in the closing weeks of last season gave OM the boost they needed to go on and secure fifth place, and with it a spot in the group stage of this season’s UEFA Europa League.

Signing spree

Sampaoli now comes into his first full campaign at the helm and president Pablo Longoria has worked hard to give him the tools he wanted to make Marseille a force. While Florian Thauvin has left for Mexico, a host of new faces have come in, with the headline signing Brazilian midfielder Gerson, recruited from Flamego for a fee reported to be as much as €25 million.

Marseille have also signed Brazilian left-sided centre-back Luan Peres from Santos, as well as American winger Konrad de la Fuente from Barcelona. Goalkeeper Pau López and winger Cengiz Ünder have arrived on loan from Roma, while centre-back William Saliba (pictured below right) this week followed Mattéo Guendouzi in arriving from Arsenal on loan.

More signings are expected to follow, but first OM will have to sell at least one of their prized assets, with the likes of Boubacar Kamara and Duje Caleta-Car available if the price is right. For now they remain, and veteran goalkeeper Steve Mandanda is aiming high.

Mandanda: Big expectations

“I am expecting a lot from this season. This club should always be looking to finish on the podium,” Mandanda, now 36, said in an interview with the daily La Provence.

“It won’t be easy because Paris, Monaco, Lille, Lyon and Nice are all there. But we have to be up there where OM deserve to be. The objective will be to do better than last season. I can’t wait for it to start.”

Marseille finished their pre-season preparations with a 2-1 win over Villarreal in front of 30,000 supporters at the Vélodrome, with Dimitri Payet playing a starring role as OM made it seven friendly games unbeaten. Now the real action begins.

Mandanda added: “Pre-season is no substitute for real competitive action, and playing in front of a crowd is an extraordinary thing. Montpellier have a new coach and a new way of playing. We have changed our style and three-quarters of the squad too so I am curious to see how it goes.”

Dall'Oglio in at Montpellier

Montpellier, who are unbeaten in their last four Ligue 1 home games against Marseille, finished eighth last season, running out of steam in the fight for a European place. They were always worth watching though: with 60 goals they were the top scorers outside the top four, while they let in 62 goals, more than anyone else above the bottom five.

There has since been a change in the dugout at La Paillade, with Michel Der Zakarian allowed to leave after four years at the helm. He has been replaced by Olivier Dall’Oglio, who returns to his native south of France from Brest.

Hilton moves on, Sakho in

There have been changes elsewhere, with veteran defenders Daniel Congré and Vitorino Hilton, the latter now aged 43, being released along with Damien Le Tallec. A new emphasis is being placed on youth but there are new signings to look out for - ex-Paris Saint-Germain star Mamadou Sakho (pictured above) has returned to France and is set to form a new-look centre-back pairing with the Brazilian Matheus Thuler, who is on loan from Flamengo.

The attack remains the same, with Gaëtan Laborde still at the club for now at least and set to partner Andy Delort. Meanwhile goalkeeper Jonas Omlin will miss the first month of the season due to injury, while playmaker Téji Savanier is a doubt after coming back from playing for France at the Olympics with an injury.

Speaking to RMC, new coach Dall’Oglio said: “I took over a team that was quite attack-minded and it was the attacking players who made the biggest impression. The team had more difficulty defensively and so my job is to start by looking at that. We have rebuilding to do after the departures of Hilton, Congré and Le Tallec. That is a huge amount of experience we have lost.”

Probable teams

Montpellier: Bertaud; Sambia, Thuler, Estève, Cozza; Ferri, Leroy; Laborde, Mollet, Mavididi; Delort

Marseille: Mandanda; Saliba, Balerdi, Peres; Rongier, Gueye, Guendouzi; Ünder, Gerson, Luis Henrique; Payet