Marseille vs RC Lens Predictions and Betting Tips

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Newly promoted RC Lens travel to the Orange Velodrome to take on Marseille in this week's opening fixture. The home side will be keen on bettering their home form with a positive result against their opponents. However, RC Lens who are underdogs, certainly, will want to upset the balance of things. Which side gets all three points at the end of the day?

Over the past 18 games between these two sides, Olympique Marseille has proved to be the dominant force with eight wins. However, RC Lens aren't so far behind with 5 wins of their own. It also has to be noted that Marseille is on a four-game winning run against their opponents. Will they make it five straight wins this Friday?

Les Olympiens abysmal home record

Marseille haven't been at their sparkling best at the Orange Velodrome. They have won only one of the four league games played there with two matches ending in a draw. Losing one game at home isn't a bad record, but winning only one home game in four league matches doesn't seem like championship calibre.

This terrible home form was carried over to the UEFA Champions League as they got thrashed 3-0 by Manchester City on Matchday two. However, they recorded three points in their most recent league game against Lorient. Leonardo Balerdi grabbed the only goal of the game to catapult his team to 4th place.

Exciting Newboys look to get back on their feet

Lens has really impressed since the commencement of the 2020/21 Ligue 1 season. The newly-promoted side has downed a couple of French giants, most notable being that 1-0 win against Paris Saint-Germain. That particular victory set the platform for them to record more points and they did exactly that in the next four games.

However, Lille proved to be too much for them in their most recent game as the new boys recorded their second loss of the season. In a game in which two of their players were sent off, they were lashed 4-0 by the home team. Yilmaz, Ikone, Bamba and Yacizi all grabbed one goal each to cap off a wonderful performance from them.

Marseille vs RC Lens Team News

Dmitri Payet is expected to sit this one out as he's still serving a three-game ban. Villas-Boas doesn't have any injury casualty whatsoever as he welcomes his opponents to Marseille. With regards to the away side, Michelin and Gradit will also sit this one out after both picking up a red card against Lille.

Marseille possible starting XI:

Mandanda; Amavi, Caleta-Car, Balerdi, Sakai; Sanson, Kamara, ROngier; Cuisance; Thauvin, Benedetto

RC Lens possible starting XI:

Leca; Radovanovic, Bade, Boura; Clauss, Doucoure, Cahuzac, Haidara; Kakuta; Jean, Sotoca

Marseille vs RC Lens Prediction: 2-0

The home side has shown that their champions league form wouldn't affect their league performance. They did that by beating Lorient despite losing to Olympiacos in the opening group stage game.

The away side, on the other hand, will be intent upon getting back to winning ways following that disappointing loss last time out. However, we believe they don't have the firepower to outshine Marseille at the Orange Velodrome. As such, we believe the home team are well worth backing.