Yet to lose at their Stade Pierre-Mauroy headquarters in 2024, Lille endeavour to prolong their exceptional home run when Marseille make the 2,000km round trip for Friday's Ligue 1 showdown.
Les Dogues ran out 2-1 victors over Lens following the international pause, while their visitors from the south went down 2-0 to Paris Saint-Germain in Le Classique, despite playing the entire second half with an extra man.
Match preview
© Reuters
Since Reims travelled home from the Stade Pierre-Mauroy with a 2-1 triumph under their belts at the end of September, Lille have refortified their northern base to excellent effect and extended their unbeaten streak in home contests to a fantastic 14 games during last weekend's visit of Lens.
Edon Zhegrova's ninth-minute effort put Les Dogues in the driving seat before the Kosovo winger doubled his tally for the day on the hour mark, and even though Lens focal point Elye Wahi managed to cut the deficit in half late on, his intervention proved meaningless by the time the full-time whistle blew.
As preparations hot up for a blockbuster Europa Conference League quarter-final against Premier League surprise package Aston Villa - who host their French counterparts in next Thursday's first leg - Paulo Fonseca's team have loftier continental ambitions in their sights as they reside in fourth place in the Ligue 1 standings.
Three points clear of Nice in the race for Champions League football, while possessing an identical gap to Monaco in third position, Lille have a six-match unbeaten sequence in all tournaments to protect on Friday night, which they also enter on an 11-match scoring sequence domestically and continentally.
Furthermore, it has been over 14 months since Les Dogues were last shut out in a home fixture - playing out a goalless draw with Clermont at the start of February 2023 - since when Fonseca's men have found the mark in an outrageous 27 home matches running, including each of their last 21 in the top flight.
© Reuters
Lille's magnificent scoring streak in front of their own fans is unsurprisingly the longest ongoing run in Ligue 1, but in stark contrast, a declining Marseille make the long and arduous journey north having failed to register in their last two top-division contests.
New head coach Jean-Louis Gasset was riding high after an unforeseen five-match winning run during his first five games in charge of the Olympiens, who have now been brought crashing back down to earth on the back of a disheartening three-game losing sequence across Ligue 1 and the Europa League.
Going down 3-1 to Villarreal - whom they had sunk 4-0 in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie - paled into insignificance, but Marseille have since shipped four goals while scoring a grand total of zero against Rennes and PSG, the latter of whom triumphed in Le Classique thanks to Vitinha and Goncalo Ramos.
Curiously, both of PSG's strikes arrived in the second half, after a 40th-minute red card to Lucas Beraldo cut the champions down to 10 men, and Les Olympiens' punishment for failing to make their numerical advantage count is a spot outside of the European places, occupying seventh in the rankings as one of three sides sitting on 39 points.
Only a superior goal difference is keeping Gasset's crop clear of Reims and Rennes, but throughout the entirety of their tumultuous 2023-24 campaign, Marseille have only amassed a paltry 10 Ligue 1 points on the road, the joint-worst record in the division alongside Le Havre and bottom-placed Clermont.
November's meeting between Lille and Marseille ended without the net bulging once, but Les Dogues are on a three-game winning streak in home matches versus Les Olympiens since Andre Villas-Boas masterminded a 2-1 triumph for the visiting side in the 2019-20 campaign.
Team News
© Reuters
Prior to clashing with Lens on March 29, Lille were handed a serious concern surrounding the fitness of midfielder Angel Gomes, who hurt his hamstring in training and is thought to be at risk of missing both legs of Les Dogues' UECL tie with Villa later this month.
Fonseca was also forced to bring Adam Ounas off just nine minutes after his introduction as a substitute last Friday, but his knee injury is not believed to be as severe, so he ought to be involved in the visit of Les Olympiens.
That is more than can be said for Samuel Umtiti (knee), Andrej Ilic (foot), Rafael Fernandes (muscle) and Tiago Morais (muscle), and Gomes's absence could see left-back Gabriel Gudmundsson get the nod in an unfamiliar central role again.
Following fears that they may have been unable to put a backline together for the visit of PSG, Marseille's defensive injury crisis momentarily eased for the visit of the champions, that was until Chancel Mbemba was withdrawn six minutes into the second half with a knee complaint.
The centre-back is said to have avoided a serious issue but is likely to be rested on Friday, where Jonathan Clauss (hamstring), Jean Onana (muscle), Ismaila Sarr (hamstring), Valentin Rongier (knee), Bamo Meite (ankle) and Amir Murillo (muscle) will join him in the infirmary.
As a result, Samuel Gigot and Leonardo Balerdi - both of whom were already doubts for the PSG clash - should form Pau Lopez's central barrier, while Pape Gueye is pushing to replace Geoffrey Kondogbia in midfield.
Lille possible starting lineup:
Chevalier; Santos, Diakite, Yoro, Ismaily; Gudmundsson, Andre, Bentaleb; Zhegrova, David, Haraldsson
Marseille possible starting lineup:
Lopez; Garcia, Balerdi, Gigot, Merlin; Veretout, Gueye, Harit; Henrique, Ndiaye, Aubameyang
We say: Lille 2-0 Marseille
No longer enjoying Gasset's new manager bounce and still working with a ravaged set of defensive options, another dismal weekend awaits the Marseille faithful, whose 10-hour journey to the Stade Pierre-Mauroy will likely go unrewarded.
Visiting a ground where Lille are hardly ever outclassed and have not failed to score in over a year, the stage is set for Gasset's men to suffer a fourth straight defeat, as Les Dogues enhance their European credentials at the expense of their visitors' top-six hopes.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
