Preview: Marseille vs Paris Saint-Germain - prediction, team news, lineups

Marseille welcome Paris Saint-Germain to the Stade Velodrome on Sunday evening for the first Le Classique encounter of the 2026-27 Ligue 1 campaign.

In their previous league outing, Les Olympiens fell to a 1-0 defeat against Rennes at Roazhon Park, while Les Parisiens returned to winning ways by beating Brest.

Match preview

Following on from their runners up finish in the 2024-25 Ligue 1 campaign, Marseille would have been disappointed to miss out on the top four in May, but having endured a torrid start to their latest season, there will certainly be fears at the club that the situation could get much worse.

Although they started their league campaign in emphatic fashion, claiming an impressive 4-0 victory against Strasbourg at the Stade Velodrome on the opening weekend, Les Olympiens have lost to Monaco, Paris FC and Rennes in their latest three fixtures to have them sat a lowly 13th in the table.

Bruno Genesio’s side also got their UEFA Europa League campaign off to the worst possible start on Thursday evening too, surrendering three second-half strikes as they fell to a damning 4-1 defeat against Besiktas at the Tupras Stadium, the first time they have conceded more than a trio of goals on the continent since November 2021.

Marseille’s heavy beating in the week follows a recent trend of shipping goals, with Les Olympiens having given up 10 to the opposition in their previous four outings and three of those strikes handing them defeat against Paris FC in their most recent Ligue 1 home game.

Having lost seven of their previous eight matches against this weekend’s visitors PSG, including a 5-0 demolition at the Parc des Princes in February, the schedule doesn’t get any easier for the hosts, who will have to be on top form if they want to return to winning ways on Sunday.

After claiming the Ligue 1 and Champions League double in May for the second time in as many seasons, becoming the first side since Ajax in 1973 to do so, PSG have had a surprisingly lethargic start to their latest league campaign.

Despite posting a crucial 1-0 victory against Brest at the Stade Francis-Le Ble on Sunday evening, Luis Enrique’s men collected just two points from their prior three league fixtures, leaving them seventh in the table and currently eight points behind division leaders Monaco.

Much like their opposition, it could be argued that defensive frailties over that period were the root cause to their struggles, with Les Parisiens conceding an average of 1.5 goals a game this season in comparison to 0.85 over the entirety of last campaign.

However, PSG have managed to bounce back over the previous fortnight, having cruised to a 6-1 victory against Slovan Bratislava to top the Champions League table before notching their first league triumph of the season last weekend.

Ahead of a difficult run of fixtures, facing Manchester City, Barcelona and Olympique Lyonnais over the next six weeks, Enrique would undoubtedly love for his side to continue their winning run by getting revenge on Marseille this Sunday, having suffered a 1-0 defeat at the Stade Velodrome last season.

Marseille Ligue 1 form:

Marseille form (all competitions):

Paris Saint-Germain Ligue 1 form:

Paris Saint-Germain form (all competitions):

Team News

Marseille will be without midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia once again on Sunday, with the 33-year-old still recovering from a thigh injury that has ruled him out for the previous two weeks.

Having rejected the choice of surgery on a suspected ACL injury, Nigerian midfielder Tochukwu Nnadi is expected to return to action in the near future, though this weekend will likely prove to be too soon.

It remains to be seen whether Derek Cornelius features after the 28-year-old was forced off in the second-half against Besiktas with a knock, though it is likely that Nayef Aguerd will start alongside CJ Egan-Riley in defence regardless.

Netting four Ligue 1 goals so far this season, putting him alongside three others atop the division’s scoring charts, Algerian forward Amine Gouiri is definitely Les Olympiens’ dangerman and will be looking to pull away from the competition by striking in Le Classique.

Les Parisiens’ main injury concern ahead of this weekend’s clash is Moroccan right-back Achraf Hakimi, who was forced off in the first-half against Brest and is a major doubt with a strain in his right thigh.

With the 27-year-old expected to be sidelined for the first time this season, it is more than likely that Enrique opts to deploy Warren Zaire-Emery in his place, competing a backline also consisting of Nuno Mendes, Willian Pacho and Marquinhos.

Having both been left out of the matchday squad for the trip to Brest, it remains to be seen whether either Ilya Zabarnyi or Senny Mayulu can feature on what is certain to be a very strong PSG bench this Sunday.

Signing for Les Parisiens in the summer following his winning strike in July’s World Cup final, Ferran Torres continues to be Enrique’s biggest threat in front of goal this season, already netting six times since his arrival.

Marseille possible starting lineup:

De Lange; Weah, Egan-Riley, Aguerd, Emerson; Abdelli, Hojbjerg; Harit, Gomes, Paixo; Gouiri

Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:

Safonov; Zaire-Emery, Marquinhos, Pacho, Mendes; Neves, Vitinha, Ruiz; Dembele, Torres, Kvaratskhelia

We say: Marseille 1-3 Paris Saint-Germain

After ending their winless start to the season with victory against Brest last weekend, PSG will be confident that they can maintain the feel good factor by snatching all three points at the Stade Velodrome this weekend.

That is exactly what we think will happen too, with Enrique’s side climbing back towards the Ligue 1 summit and Marseille losing four of their opening five matches in a league campaign for the first time in the club’s history.

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