Marseille will host Lazio in a crunch Group E clash in the UEFA Europa League.
Venue: Stade Velodrome (Marseille)
Key Statistics
Marseille are unbeaten in their last five games (W2, D3).
The home team have the most appearances for a French team in the Europa League group stage.
They are leading the Europa League this season in terms of both possession (63%) and passing accuracy (88%).
Lazio have not won any of their last six away games in all competitions (D2, L4).
They have not kept an away clean sheet in eleven games.
Pedro has opened the scoring for Lazio in each of their last two competitive fixtures.
Head to head
Lazio and Marseille have met seven times in the past. In those meetings, Marseille won just once while Lazio had four wins (D2).
Latest Performances in all competitions
Marseille: W-D-D-D-W
Lazio: D-W-L-D-W
Marseille
Marseille have endured a frustrating start to their Europa League campaign, drawing all their three games so far and scoring just once in that period.
Their 0-0 draw with Lazio in the reverse fixture saw them hold 56% of the possession, but they could not get the goal that would win them the game.
Under Jorge Sampaoli, the French side are playing possession football and are out-passing every other team in the Europa League. But that has not reflected very positively on their results or their position on the table as they are currently occupying the third spot.
They head into this tie unbeaten in their last five games and will fancy their chances of extending that record in this game.
Meanwhile, Rongier is the only injury doubt for the hosts after missing their weekend win over Clermont win with adductor pain. However, Boubacar Kamara, Dimitri Payet and Valentin Rongier will have to be careful in this game as they are all one booking away from suspension.
Possible Marseille starting line-ups
Pau Lopez, William Saliba, Duje Caleta-Car, Luan Peres, Cengiz Under, Pape Gueye, Boubacar Kamara, Pol Lirola, Matteo Guendouzi, Dimitri Payet, Arkadiusz Milik
Lazio
Lazio’s start to the Europa League campaign has been inconsistent as they have recorded one loss, one win and one draw in three of their opening games.
They head into this tie sitting in second place in Group E table, three points behind leaders Galatasaray and just one point ahead of Marseille. They will aim to take up all three points in this tie to solidify their grip on the second spot.
However, under Maurizio Sarri, they have struggled to win games away from home and have won none of their last six away games. In fact, they have only won one competitive away game under Sarri—a 3-1 win over Empoli in August.
They have to find a way to win in France if they want to progress to the next round.
Meanwhile, Sarri has a full squad to select from with only Mattia Zaccagni (knee) the only injury absentee.
Possible Lazio starting line-ups
Pepe Reina; Elseid Hysaj, Francesco Acerbi, Patric, Adam Marusic; Lucas Leiva, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Luis Alberto; Felipe Anderson, Pedro, Ciro Immobile
Prediction
Marseille 1-2 Lazio
