Sat 15/12/12 – 17:00 (UK)
Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse
Ref – Benoit Bastien
Background –
Having restored some pride midweek with a 2-1 victory over Bastia, Marseille travel to Toulouse hoping to put themselves joint top of the ligue ahead of the psg v Lyon game on Sunday evening. Despite not having the greatest overall record over Toulouse away from home, Marseille have the better of recent records having last lost their 7 games ago in 2007. After a solid start to the season, much like OM, Toulouse made it as high as 3rd place after a 3-1 win over Brest in week 10. Having only lost one game by that point, TFC have subsequently lost 5 and only one once, although that was an emphatic 3-0 win over ligue leaders Lyon!
Marseille –
With the defensive midfield being made up with questionable performances from Kabore, and Abdullah filling in where possible, Elie Baup will be pleased to welcome back Benoit Cheyrou from injury and suspension. Baup was also able to welcome back early season star man, Andre-Pierre Gignac against Bastia and APG managed a 5 minute cameo at the end. Cheyrou may be in-line for a start, but Gignac will be more likely to remain on the bench against his former employers.
The travelling squad is made up of: Mandanda, Bracigliano, Fanni, Abdallah, Nkoulou, Mendes, Morel, Abdullah, Cheyrou, Kabore, Barton, AMalfitano, Valbuena, Raspentino, A. Ayew, Remy, Gignac, J. Ayew.
Having performed as a team again against Bastia, Baup may keep the same starting 11, the other option being to drop Abdullah for the fit again Cheyrou. With both Remy and Gignac relatively fit again, this could be Jordan Ayew’s final chance to prove himself and keep his team mates out of the starting 11 having now failed to find the net in 4 matches. Either way it is likely that Gignac and Remy will manage some pitch time. Remy, to get him ‘in the shop window’ as club looks increasingly likely to offload him, and Gignac, to gain some pitch time ahead of the final game ahead of the winter break, next Sunday’s clash against Saint-Etienne.
Predicted line-up and formation:
Who are they? –
Having started the season well, Alain Cassanova will be looking for a positive end from his players in the first half of the season. They currently sit only 7 points above the relegation zone, and with TFC playing 18th placed Sochaux next week, they really could be dragged into a relegation battle. This is something that would have been unthought-of of earlier this season, but their form after week 9 sees them sitting 17th in the table.
Alain Cassanova only has doubts over AYmen Adbennour and Moussa Sissoko as he chooses from a full strength squad that welcomes back Etienne Didot after a one match ban.
Jordan Ayew is likely to have his work cut out for him as he faces up against the in-form Etienne Capoue. Capoue is good in the air and on the floor and has a good positional sense too. Ayew will have to use some of his sometimes juvenile unpredictability in order to succeed against Capoue. Toulouse sit 7th and 8th in the defensive and attacking tables respectively, both 1 place ahead of OM, showing that despite recent form, they are more defensively astute and can grab goals consistently too. Many of these goals, particularly home ones have come from this seasons surprise package Wissam Ben Yedder. 7 of his 9 goals have come at Toulouse’ Stadium and his versatility sees him netting goals from dribbles, shots and surprisingly headers too. This is down to his excellent positional sense, so he must be watched closely when TFC are on the attack.
Summary:
This is hopefully a good time for Marseille to play Toulouse, given their recent run of form, particularly if the Lyon game is omitted. If Marseille play as they have in their last 3 wins, then they should win this game, but they need to break this ligue run of loss (0-1 Bordeaux), win (1-0 Lille), loss (1-4 Lyon), win (2-1 Brest), loss (0-3 Lorient), win (2-1 Bastia). If they can do this it really adds heat to the psg v Lyon game on Sunday evening too, with the winners having every chance of starting the winter break in 1st place.
Predicted result: Toulouse 2-3 Marseille
Allez l’OM (Swanny @MarseilleUK)
Other Ligue 1 Games:
Valenciennes 0-4 psg
Nice 1-0 Rennes
Lille 2v0 Toulouse
Lyon 1v1 Nancy
Brest 1v2 Montpellier
Lorient 2v0 Sochaux
Ajaccio 2v0 Reims
Evian 2v0 Troyes
Bordeaux 0v0 Saint-Etienne
Bordeaux 0-0 Saint-Etienne
Rennes 2-0 Valenciennes
Nice v Evian
Reims v Lille
Montpellier v Bastia
Troyes v Ajaccio
Sochaux v Brest
Nancy v Bordeaux
Saint-Etienne v Lorient
psg v Lyon
