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Feyenoord
Europa Conference League | Semi-Finals | 1st Leg
Apr 28, 2022 at 8pm UK
Stadion Feijenoord
Marseille

Feyenoord
3 - 2
Marseille

Dessers (18', 46'), Sinisterra (20')
Malacia (37'), Geertruida (79'), Hendrix (90+2')
FT(HT: 2-2)
Dieng (28'), Gerson (40')
Harit (84')

Preview: Feyenoord vs. Marseille - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Thursday's Europa Conference League clash between Feyenoord and Marseille, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Feyenoord will welcome Marseille to the Netherlands on Thursday for the first leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final tie.

The hosts got past Slavia Prague to reach the final four, while their visitors bested Greek outfit PAOK on their route to the semi-finals.


Match preview

Marseille coach Jorge Sampaoli on March 17, 2022© Reuters

After cruising through their Europa Conference League group, finishing top with an unbeaten record and 14 points, Feyenoord progressed to the round of 16, and they continued their dominant run by thrashing Partizan 8-3 over two legs.

That booked a quarter-final tie with Slavia Prague, who they beat to a first-placed finish in the group, and a dramatic home leg ended 3-3 in Rotterdam.

Arne Slot's side then made the difficult trip to the Czech capital, and a Cyriel Dessers brace and a Luis Sinisterra goal ensured they left with a 3-1 win on the night and progressed with an aggregate victory.

They now head into the semi-final on the back of a league victory over FC Utrecht on Sunday, as the game looked set to end goalless until Sinisterra popped up with a 96th-minute winner.

That saw the Stadionclub strengthen their position in the top three of the Eredivisie table, and, on top of their impressive showing in the Dutch top flight, they will aim to take a step closer to the Conference League final in their home leg.

Feyenoord coach Arne Slot on April 7, 2022© Reuters

They face a tough test, though, as Marseille also arrive in strong form and with their sights set on the final.

After a third-placed finish in their Europa League group, the French outfit dropped into the playoff round for Europe's third competition, and they eased past Qarabag before beating Basel with a pair of 2-1 wins in the round of 16.

Jorge Sampaoli's side then met Greek outfit PAOK in the quarter-finals, and they took a 2-1 lead into the away leg, thanks to goals from Gerson and Dimitri Payet, before the latter netted the only goal of the second game to book his side's place in the final four.

Les Olympiens find themselves in an eye-catching run of form in league action, too, having now won 10 of their last 11 games both domestically and on the continent, with a narrow defeat to Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain being the only blemish on their record.

That came after the second-leg win in Greece, but Sampaoli's men instantly bounced back, beating Nantes 3-2 before Gerson netted the only goal in a 1-0 win away at Reims at the weekend.

While they can no longer seal the French league title, Les Olympiens have enjoyed an impressive campaign at the top of the division and will aim to add to their campaign by reaching the inaugural Europa Conference League final.

Feyenoord Europa Conference League form:
  • D
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • D
  • W

Feyenoord form (all competitions):
  • D
  • W
  • D
  • W
  • W
  • W

Marseille Europa Conference League form:
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • W
  • W

Marseille form (all competitions):
  • W
  • W
  • L
  • W
  • W
  • W



Team News

Marseille's Dimitri Payet celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates on April 14, 2022© Reuters

Feyenoord have several injuries to deal with, as Guus Til, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Jens Toornstra and first-choice goalkeeper Justin Bijlow are all sidelined, while key centre-back Marcos Senesi is also expected to miss out after picking up a knock recently.

Cyriel Dessers and Bryan Linssen will battle to lead the line, although, after his brace in the second leg against Slavia Prague, the former should be given the nod.

He would likely be flanked by Arsenal loanee Reiss Nelson and Luis Sinisterra, who has contributed 22 goals and 11 assists in 43 appearances across all competitions this season.

Marseille are without centre-back Leonardo Balerdi due to an injury, while Cengiz Under is set to remain out of action and Luis Henrique is not registered for the Europa Conference League.

However, they will welcome back a long list of players who were suspended for the second leg of their quarter-final, with Bamba Dieng returning to contention alongside key midfielders Gerson and Boubacar Kamara.

Dimitri Payet will continue to play a key role after his involvement in their run so far, having hit three goals and provided three assists in five Conference League appearances this term, with Cedric Bakambu and Arkadiusz Milik likely battling to lead the line.

Feyenoord possible starting lineup:
Marciano; Geertruida, Trauner, Hendriks, Malacia; Kokcu, Aursnes, Hendrix; Nelson, Dessers, Sinisterra

Marseille possible starting lineup:
Mandanda; Rongier, Saliba, Peres Petroni, Kolasinac; Guendouzi, Kamara, Gueye; Harit, Bakambu, Payet


SM words green background

We say: Feyenoord 2-2 Marseille

The two sides boast similar levels of quality, and, given the nature of a first-leg affair, we predict a tight contest with neither risking a heavy defeat but both posing the ability to punish their opponents.

We ultimately see a draw as the most likely outcome ahead of the second leg in France.


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Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Feyenoord win with a probability of 44.21%. A win for Marseille had a probability of 32.1% and a draw had a probability of 23.7%.

The most likely scoreline for a Feyenoord win was 2-1 with a probability of 9.08%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (7.72%) and 2-0 (6.48%). The likeliest Marseille win was 1-2 (7.57%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (10.8%). The actual scoreline of 3-2 was predicted with a 3.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Feyenoord would win this match.


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Game History

How you voted: Feyenoord vs Marseille

Feyenoord
39.2%
Draw
22.3%
Marseille
38.5%
148
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Marseille's William Saliba pictured in March 2022
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