Preview: Marseille vs Nice - prediction, team news, lineups

Marseille can assure they remain in a European position with a victory over Nice on Sunday at Stade Velodrome.

Heading into matchday 31, OM sit sixth in the Ligue 1 table following a 2-0 defeat at Lorient, while Nice drew 0-0 with Lille are currently sitting in 15th place.

Match preview

At the moment, Marseille seem to be doing everything possible to avoid playing in Europe, losing three of their previous four league fixtures.

That has dramatically changed their position as they went from a side holding down a place in the next Champions League Phase to one currently just two points above Monaco for a Conference League spot.

Things could not be much tighter, though, with a mere two points currently separating Habib Beye’s side from Lyon, who are third.

Marseille have won three of their previous four home matches in the top-flight while netting three times in two of those triumphs.

Dating back to the previous campaign, this team have scored in 18 of their last 19 league encounters at Stade Velodrome with only Nantes keeping them off the scoresheet over that stretch (2-0 in January).

Six of their previous eight home meetings with Nice ended with Les Minots collecting maximum points, while they avoided defeat on seven of those occasions.

While the league campaign has gone about as badly as they could have hoped Nice are heading into this weekend in a confident mood.

That is because they booked a place in the final of the Coupe de France on Wednesday by earning an unexpected 2-0 triumph at Strasbourg.

Claude Puel’s men have posted a clean sheet in their last two competitive games, and on Sunday, could go at least three matches without conceding across all competitions for the first time since September to November 2023 (eight).

A victory this weekend, combined with a Nantes defeat, would just about assure they avoid automatic relegation, with the latter currently nine points behind them with four matchdays remaining.

Nice have managed to avoid defeat in four of their previous five competitive games away from home, with their only two Ligue 1 victories this year coming outside the Allianz Riviera.

Le Gym have points in two of their previous three visits to Stade Velodrome, with their last such triumph occurring in 2023 (3-1).

Marseille Ligue 1 form:

Nice Ligue 1 form:

Nice form (all competitions):

Team News

A groin strain may keep Nayef Aguerd out of the Marseille fold this weekend, Igor Paixao is questionable with a sore calf, while CJ Egan-Riley and Geoffrey Kondogbia are doubtful due to leg injuries.

Amine Gouiri and Quinten Timber are both listed as questionable for this outing because of knocks they recently sustained.

At Nice, Moise Bombito is still recovering from a lower leg issue, while Dante and Youssouf Ndayishimiye have calf injuries.

Mohamed Abdelmonem still has a muscle strain, and Everton Pereira is doubtful once again as he recovers from an ankle injury.

Marseille possible starting lineup:

Rulli; Pavard, Balerdi, Palmieri; Weah, Nadir, Hojbjerg, Medina; Greenwood, Nwaneri; Aubameyang

Nice possible starting lineup:

Diouf; Mendy, Oppong, Bah; Clauss, Diop, Coulibaly, Sanson, Bard; Cho, Wahi

We say: Marseille 2-0 Nice

Marseille always seem to be at their best on home soil, and we expect to see a strong reaction from them as has often been the case following a defeat.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.