Sports Mole previews Sunday's Ligue 1 clash between Lens and Marseille, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Last season's closest challengers to eventual champions Paris Saint-Germain meet in Ligue 1 on Sunday night, when Lens host Marseille.
Both clubs are showing signs of turning their seasons around after worrying starts, with very little to separate them coming into the weekend.
Match preview
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Lens were bottom of Ligue 1 for a short spell early in the season, but they have quickly put that past them and are now proving tough to beat domestically.
PSV Eindhoven did end their nine-game unbeaten run in midweek, but Lens were unfortunate in a narrow 1-0 defeat, which could have gone either way.
That was a first defeat since starting the season with one point from their opening five games, as a draw at Sevilla in their Champions League opener was seemingly the catalyst for an upturn in form.
Lens are still in a good position to progress from their UCL group, sitting level on points with PSV in second, and another charge for Europe looks on the cards domestically, as Lens are just two points shy of fifth.
Making sure the Stade Bollaert-Delelis remains a fortress will be important if they are to challenge near the top, as Lens have lost just one of their last 13 games here in Ligue 1.
That suggests this will be a difficult ask for Gennaro Gattuso, as Marseille are winless in their last eight away league games - losing six.
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With three wins and two draws from his opening seven games in charge, Gattuso has had a relatively positive impact, and winning away in Athens against AEK on Thursday was a very impressive result.
That may give them the impetus to end their barren run domestically on the road, but Gattuso has lost both of his away league games as manager.
The club are yet to be given a points deduction following the ugly scenes which saw their tie with Lyon postponed last month, and they will have the opportunity to make ground on the sides above them with that game in hand on December 6.
Lens will provide an unfriendly and intimidating welcome for OM, but their 2-0 win in the Greek capital suggests Gattuso is implementing a strong backbone to the side.
That win leaves them top of their Europa League group and has almost guaranteed them continental football in the new year.
Lens Ligue 1 form:
- W
- W
- D
- D
- W
- D
Lens form (all competitions):
- D
- D
- D
- W
- D
- L
Marseille Ligue 1 form:
- D
- L
- L
- W
- L
- D
Marseille form (all competitions):
- D
- W
- L
- W
- D
- W
Team News
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Lens manager Franck Haise will have much of his senior squad available to him here, so they may remain unchanged from the PSV defeat.
Haise saw nine of his players booked in midweek, including Morgan Guilavogui, who was dismissed for a second yellow card, but his suspension is only active in European competition, so he will be available here.
Fringe players David Costa and Oscar Cortes are both absent, while Jimmy Cabot remains out as he recovers from an ACL tear.
Marseille are set to be without Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after he missed the trip to Greece with a hamstring injury picked up against Lille last weekend.
Gattuso was able to welcome back Joaquin Correa though, bolstering their attacking options, with Ismaila Sarr set to come back in following his late goal off the bench in Athens.
The visitors are a little light in central midfield though, with Valentin Rongier and Azzedine Ounahi both absent, so there will be no rest for Jordan Veretout and Geoffrey Kondogbia, who both started last weekend and in both clashes with AEK.
Lens possible starting lineup:
Samba; Gradit, Danso, Medina; Frankowski, Abdul Samed, Mendy, Machado; Sotoca, Wahi, Thomasson
Marseille possible starting lineup:
Pau Lopez; Clauss, Gigot, Mbemba, Renan Lodi; Veretout, Kondogbia; Sarr, Ndiaye, Harit; Vitinha
We say: Lens 1-1 Marseille
Both sides have shown pragmatic approaches to get results in recent weeks, as defensive solidity has been the backbone of Haise's success at Lens.
It will be a tough place to come to end Marseille's winless away run, and that is set to continue, but the spoils may well be shared here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 2.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 2.5:data
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