Marseille will begin their UEFA Europa Conference League on Thursday as they welcome Azerbaijani side Qarabag FK to Stade Vélodrome this Wednesday in the first leg of the knockout stage of the Conference League.
Venue: Stade Vélodrome
Key Statistics
Marseille have won just two of their last seven home Ligue 1 outings (D4, L1), conceding first within 15 minutes in the last two.
They have not kept a clean sheet in their last five games in all competitions.
Qarabag are playing in their first-ever European knockout tie.
They have never beaten a French team in European football (D3, L3).
Head to head
This is the first time both teams will be meeting
Latest performances in all competitions
Marseille: W-L-W-L-W
Qarabag: W-W-W-L-L
Marseille
After winning just one of their Europa League group stage games, French club Marseille could only finish third in their group behind Galatasaray and Lazio.
As a result, they dropped down to the Europa Conference League where like every other team they are playing for the first time.
The hosts are one of the strongest teams left in the tournament and will fancy their chances of lifting this trophy. They come into this tie on the back of a 2-1 win over Metz in the French Ligue 1. The win was secured courtesy of goals from Cedric Bakambu and Arkadiusz Milik and was enough to keep them second in the league table four points ahead of Nice.
Jorge Sampaoli’s side are currently on a have history on their side, as the last three times Marseille have been transferred from one European competition to another, they’ve reached the Round of 16 at least.
However, they have to improve at home, as they have won just two of their last seven home Ligue 1 outings (D4, L1), conceding first within 15 minutes in the last two.
Possible Marseille starting line-up
Pau Lopez, Pol Lirola, Leonardo Balerdi, William Saliba, Duje Caleta-Car; Matteo Guendouzi, Boubacar Kamara, Gerson, Dimitri Payet, Arkadiusz Milik, Cengiz Under.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: Valentin Rongier
Qarabag
Qarabag play away at Marseille in the first leg of their Europa Conference League knockout playoff tie.
The Azerbaijani side find themselves in the playoffs thanks to their second-place finish in the group stage. They started with a draw against group favourites Basel and consecutive victories over Omonia Nicosia and Kairat on two occasions.
Following a draw with Omonia and a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Basel in the final game, Gurban Gurbanov’s side fell short in the race for the first position with the latter, forcing them to go through a tricky playoff round to attempt to earn a place in the final 16.
The ‘Horsemen’ have dominated their domestic football this season. They currently top the Azerbaijani Premier League with 36 points from their 15 games, having netted 32 goals.
They head into this game looking to record a favourable result ahead of next week’s second leg.
Possible Qarabag starting line-up
Luka Gugeshashvili; Marko Vešović, Rahil Mammadov, Kevin Medina, Toral Bayramov; Richard Almeida, Ismayil Ibrahimli; Kady, Filip Ozobić, Abdellah Zoubir; Ramil Sheydaev.
Injured: Badavi Hüseynov, Jaime Romero, Shahrudin Mahammadaliyev
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Prediction
Marseille 2-0 Qarabag
