Olympique de Marseille – Olympique Lyonnais Sunday at 20:45 CET (1945 GMT)

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What better way than one of the biggest fixtures of the season for OM to get back on track after they were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League in midweek? Meetings of Marseille and Lyon have become among the most eagerly anticipated in the Ligue 1 Uber Eats calendar and the rivalry between the sides has continued to grow over the last decade, especially with OM finding it harder and harder to compete with Paris Saint-Germain.

Yet while Marseille have beaten PSG just once in the last decade, in reality their record against OL has not been much better. After all, OM have managed just a single victory in their last 15 league encounters with Lyon. That was a 2-1 success in November 2019, while Lyon emerged victorious in both meetings of the clubs last season.

Igor Tudor’s side do not come into this game in great shape, having spent the last few days nursing a hangover following their 2-1 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur in their final Champions League group outing. It was a remarkable night at the Orange Vélodrome, with Marseille on course to qualify for the last 16 of Europe’s elite club competition as they led 1-0 at half-time thanks to a Chancel Mbemba goal.

Watch highlights: Marseille held by Strasbourg

They were pegged back to 1-1 early in the second half, but at least that scoreline had them on course to drop into the Europa League after the World Cup. However, as they pushed men forward searching for a winner, they were caught out deep in injury time as a Pierre-Emile Højbjerg strike gave Spurs the win that saw them top the group. Marseille were left bottom and will not play in Europe at all in the new year.

Domestic struggles

“There are no words. It really hurts, but that is the reality of football,” said Mbemba. “The Europa League is finished. There is no Champions League. All that’s left is the league, so we need to focus on that and pick up points because we have thrown a lot away.”

Marseille’s fine start to the campaign is becoming a distant memory. After seven wins and two draws in their first nine league games, OM have now gone four without a win. They followed a sequence of three consecutive defeats in domestic competition by drawing 2-2 at RC Strasbourg Alsace last weekend, but they led 2-0 in that game at the Stade de la Meinau only to throw away the advantage, conceding an equaliser in the third minute of stoppage time.

Lyon back on track

In contrast, Lyon head south having put an end to their disastrous run of results that cost coach Peter Bosz his job. Blanc oversaw a 3-2 defeat at Stade Rennais FC in his first game in charge that left Lyon without a win in six. However, they have since bounced back to record consecutive victories, following a 2-1 win at Montpellier Hérault SC by beating LOSC Lille 1-0 at the Groupama Stadium last time out. Alexandre Lacazette has scored the winner in both matches.

As a result, Lyon ended last weekend in eighth place just four points behind Marseille. Another win here would really get them believing that European qualification is a possibility again.

Highlights: Lyon edge out Lille

“We need to keep picking up points until November 13,” said Blanc after the Lille victory. “We have to go to Marseille and then we play Nice, so it won’t be easy. Let’s try to get as many points as we can. The club and the players have accepted a lot of things over the last three weeks. Even against Rennes we accepted not taking anything from the game when maybe we could have got a point. We can’t accept that anymore. Against Montpellier we should have killed the game sooner, but there was still a lack of confidence. But we still managed to go out and win the game. The change in mentality is the biggest progress the team has made.”

Sinaly Diomandé is back after suspension for Lyon but Corentin Tolisso is now unlikely to return from a thigh injury until after the World Cup. For Marseille, Tudor must decide whether to make changes, particularly in attack, with the decision not to send on Dimitri Payet against Tottenham raising some eyebrows. Eric Bailly came off early on in that game with a recurrence of his hamstring injury.

Probable teams

Marseille: López; Mbemba, Balerdi, Kolasinac; Clauss, Guendouzi (c), Veretout, Nuno Tavares; Ünder, Dieng, Sánchez

Lyon: Lopes; Diomandé, Boateng, Lukeba; Gusto, Thiago Mendes, Lepenant, Aouar, Tagliafico; Dembélé, Lacazette (c)

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