Seeking to end a run of four consecutive draws in the Europa League, Marseille travel to Galatasaray on matchday five in Group E.
Jorge Sampaoli's men sit third in the group amid their streak of stalemates, whereas the Turkish hosts top the group with eight points to their name.
Match preview
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A weekend of fiery derbies for both Galatasaray and Marseille saw Fatih Terim's side renew hostilities with long-standing rivals Fenerbahce, but it was not an intercontinental derby for the hosts to remember as they succumbed to a late 2-1 defeat in the Super Lig.
Kerem Akturkoglu got Galatasaray off to the perfect start by drawing first blood with 16 minutes played, but Mesut Ozil levelled for Fenerbahce before the break, and Miguel Crespo won it for the 10-man visitors in the fourth minute of second-half injury time.
Throwing away three points to their bitter rivals in such fashion is not what the doctor ordered for Galatasaray ahead of Thursday's game, but Terim's side are sitting pretty at the top of Europa League Group E having won two and drawn two of their four games so far.
The Turkish giants could only take a point in their matchday four battle with Lokomotiv Moscow as the tie ended 1-1, but they are three points clear of second-placed Lazio and could confirm their place in the last-32 should results go their way in the penultimate matchweek.
Francois Kamano's equaliser for Lokomotiv in that clash is the only goal that Galatasaray have conceded in the 2021-22 Europa League so far - although they boast just three at the other end of the pitch - and Marseille will relish the opportunity to put the events of the weekend behind them.
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In yet another unwelcome instance of crowd trouble in Ligue 1, Marseille's star man Dimitri Payet was the target of a water bottle thrown from a section of the Lyon crowd in Sunday's Choc des Olympiques, which ultimately had to be abandoned with four minutes played.
There was a near two-hour gap in between the incident and the abandonment of the game as the talent in France's top flight continues to be overshadowed by such incidents, but Sampaoli will simply want to galvanise his troops for another taxing European trip this week.
Les Olympiens have played four and drawn four in the Europa League so far this term, most recently sharing the spoils in a thrilling 2-2 stalemate with Lazio at the Orange Velodrome, and their current third-placed ranking will lead to a drop down to the Conference League.
Sampaoli surely cannot fathom another one-pointer in Europe, but all three might not be enough to rise into the top two should Lazio produce the goods against Lokomotiv Moscow, and Les Olympiens have now played out five draws from their last seven in all competitions.
The other two games in that sequence have been wins, though, meaning that Marseille enter Thursday's game on a seven-match unbeaten run, but there were no goals to be had in their previous meeting with Galatasaray back in September.
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Team News
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Galatasaray have no fresh injury concerns to work around for this contest, with Arda Turan and Sacha Boey continuing their spells on the sidelines with ankle and hamstring injuries respectively.
Goalkeeper Fernando Muslera will miss the matchday six clash with Lazio if he is booked here but will not lose his place in goal, where he will be protected by Marcao and Victor Nelsson.
Terim elected not to make a single change from the clash with Lokomotiv for the defeat to Fenerbahce, but Mostafa Mohamed and Mbaye Diagne will both be hoping to displace Halil Dervisoglu up top.
Marseille attacker Payet will be given ample time to recover from Sunday's incident as he serves a suspension this week, while Valentin Rongier is also banned for an accumulation of yellow cards.
The return of Cengiz Under to training means that Sampaoli has no real injury concerns to work around, and the Turkey international is a strong candidate to replace Rongier on familiar soil.
Gerson and Amine Harit will likely battle for the chance to support Arkadiusz Milik with Payet out of contention, although Bamba Dieng is another option for Sampaoli in the final third.
Galatasaray possible starting lineup:
Muslera; Yedlin, Nelsson, Marcao, Van Aanholt; Kutlu; Feghouli, Cicaldau, Morutan, Akturkoglu; Mohamed
Marseille possible starting lineup:
Lopez; Lirola, Saliba, Caleta-Car, Peres; Kamara; Under, Guendouzi, Gerson, De la Fuente; Milik
We say: Galatasaray 1-0 Marseille
Marseille may struggle to get into the right headspace for this encounter following the weekend's unsavoury events, and with the absent Payet at the heart of their attacks week in week out, Sampaoli's men are fighting an uphill battle to claim a first continental win of the season.
Galatasaray have produced defensive masterclass after defensive masterclass in Europe this term, and we are backing the group leaders to march to another narrow win as Marseille's draw streak ends in dismal fashion.
Top tip
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 Marseille win with a probability of 38.06%. A win for Galatasaray had a probability of 33.53% and a draw had a probability of 28.4%.
The most likely scoreline for a Marseille win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.06%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (7.89%) and 0-2 (7.18%). The likeliest Galatasaray win was 1-0 (11.13%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.25%). The actual scoreline of 4-2 was predicted with a 0.4% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted that Galatasaray would win this match.
