Marseille will endeavour to make it three wins on the bounce across all competitions when Clermont pay a visit to the Orange Velodrome for Sunday's Ligue 1 encounter.
Jorge Sampaoli's men saw off Qarabag 3-1 in the Europa Conference League in midweek, while the visitors have not been in action since going down 2-1 to Saint-Etienne last weekend.
Match preview
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A spot in the Europa Conference League was not what Marseille had in mind when they initially began their European journey in the Europa League this term, but they have at least kicked off proceedings on the right foot against Azerbaijani giants Qarabag.
Arkadiusz Milik was on target twice in quick succession for Les Olympiens on the stroke of half time before Kady's strike made things interesting, but Dimitri Payet rounded off the scoring in injury time to hand Marseille a healthy first-leg advantage in the playoff stage.
Milik's brilliance was also on show during a 2-1 success over Metz in the top flight earlier this month, and Nice's sudden downturn in fortunes means that Marseille enter gameweek 25 second in the table - still 13 points adrift of runaway leaders Paris Saint-Germain, though.
Victory over Qarabag also stretched the unbeaten run of Sampaoli's side at the Orange Velodrome to seven matches in all competitions - as well as representing their third win on the bounce at their headquarters - but clean sheets have not been on the menu for Marseille very often.
Indeed, Les Olympiens have now conceded at least one goal in their last six matches continentally and domestically and have not recorded a shutout at home in the league since November - a statistic that must be rectified if they are to remain in the driving seat for a second-placed finish.
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Taking six points from six against Rennes and Nice certainly turned attention towards Pascal Gastien's Clermont earlier in 2022, but a basement battle with Saint-Etienne did not go the way of the Lanciers on February 13 as they suffered a dampening 2-1 loss.
Cedric Hountondji's header propelled Clermont into a 1-0 lead before the half-time whistle blew, but Mahdi Camara latched onto Sada Thioub's pass to restore parity for Saint-Etienne before Timothee Kolodziejczak headed home the decisive goal in the 82nd minute.
While Saint-Etienne boosted their survival prospects in that encounter, Clermont's have not taken too much of a hit, as the newly-promoted outfit occupy 15th place in the rankings and have their fate firmly in their own hands - sitting four points clear of the bottom two.
Clermont can boast two wins from their last three on the road versus Nice and Angers, but the two strikes in that pair of 1-0 wins represents their only goals from their last five away from home in Ligue 1, with their confidence certainly not helped by the harsh reality check handed down to them by Saint-Etienne.
A Cengiz Under winner was all that could separate the two sides back in October as Marseille marched to a 1-0 win at the Stade Gabriel-Montpied, but Clermont may feel slightly more optimistic about their chances of springing a surprise against a fatigued Olympiens side here.
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Team News
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Marseille boss Sampaoli once again has no injury or suspension-related absentees to work around for this contest, but he will need to assess some jellied legs given the quick turnaround in matches.
Arsenal loanee William Saliba will expect to displace Leonardo Balerdi at the back, and in keeping with the Emirates theme, Sead Kolasinac could come into contention for a start after setting up Milik's acrobatic winner against Metz.
Payet was also only used as a substitute in midweek but is sure to return to the first XI here, as Cedric Bakambu and Bamba Dieng battle to fill the second vacant spot in the final third alongside hotshot Milik.
Meanwhile, Clermont lost attacker Elbasan Rashani to an apparent ankle injury in the defeat to Saint-Etienne, joining fellow victim Jean-Claude Billong with an issue in the same area.
Josue Albert and Florent Ogier remain uncertain due to personal reasons, but Johan Gastien has been dealing with gastroenteritis and Vital Nsimba missed training earlier this week due to an adductor scare.
Jodel Dossou and Jim Allevinah are ready to deputise for Rashani should he be consigned to a bench role, while Arial Mendy might be called upon to deputise for N'Simba at left-back.
Marseille possible starting lineup:
Lopez; Lirola, Saliba, Caleta-Car, Peres; Kamara, Gerson, Guendouzi; Payet; Milik, Bakambu
Clermont possible starting lineup:
Djoco; Zedadka, Hountondji, Seidu, Mendy; Berthomier, Magnin, Abdul Samed; Da Cunha, Bayo, Allevinah
We say: Marseille 3-1 Clermont
With several new potential absentees to cope without and a morale-sapping loss to try to overcome, the odds are stacked against Clermont heading to the Orange Velodrome.
Sampaoli may be forced into some changes depending on how many tired legs report for training, but with enviable depth and Milik enjoying a free-scoring streak up top, Marseille ought to prevail comfortably.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Marseille win with a probability of 64.22%. A draw had a probability of 20.6% and a win for Clermont had a probability of 15.23%.
The most likely scoreline for a Marseille win was 2-0 with a probability of 11.4%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-0 (11.31%) and 2-1 (9.86%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (9.77%), while for a Clermont win it was 0-1 (4.85%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 2.1% likelihood.
