Crucial points are up for grabs at Stade Velodrome on Friday evening when Marseille entertain Lorient in Ligue 1.
The hosts have dropped out of the title race and are now in danger of missing out on Champions League qualification, while 18th-placed Lorient are fighting relegation.
Marseille
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Marcelo Bielsa's side have gone off the boil at just the wrong time, having lost their last three games to fall eight points behind the Ligue 1 leaders. The gap could be as much as 11 should Paris Saint-Germain win their game in hand.
Les Olympiens set the pace in the first half of the season and topped the table over the winter break, so will be disappointed to have fallen away just prior to the final stretch.
They dropped out of the top three for the first time since August following what is proving to be a damaging 3-2 defeat to PSG at the start of April. One-nil losses away at Bordeaux and Nantes have followed to leave them too far back to reignite their challenge.
Marseille now have a real fight on their hands to secure the top-three finish which would earn them a return to the Champions League after a campaign with no European football.
AS Monaco are two points above them and fifth-placed Saint-Etienne level on points.
Having experienced its wonders this term, Monaco will be reluctant to give up their Champions League slot, and Saint-Etienne have gone eight games unbeaten and will also push Marseille all the way.
Ending their losing streak at home to one of the division's strugglers is imperative for Bielsa's men if they are to regain some much-needed momentum late in the season. They still have Monaco to play, so their destiny is in their own hands.
Recent form: WDWLLL
Lorient
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Lorient's nine-year spell in France's top division is in serious jeopardy as they find themselves in the bottom three with five games of the season remaining.
Les Merlus finished in the comfortable position of eighth last season under Christian Gourcuff and have been mid-table regulars since their promotion from Ligue 2 in 2006.
However, they have struggled under Sylvain Ripoll this term and their 1-0 home defeat to fellow strugglers Toulouse last weekend left them two points from safety.
It was a third defeat during an untimely four-match winless run, and the improving form of Toulouse and Evian TG have seen them leapfrogged in recent weeks.
A tough run-in makes Lorient's position even more perilous. Marseille are one of three top-six opponents left on their fixture list and they have only beaten one of the teams in the European places all season.
Recent form: LWLLDL
Team News
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It could be brother versus brother as Marseille's Andre Ayew prepares to face younger sibling Jordan Ayew, who left Marseille in the summer and scored against them earlier this season.
Florian Thauvin, who like the older Ayew has been linked with a summer move to the Premier League, could be recalled by the hosts in place of Michy Batshuayi.
Benjamin Mendy, Abdelaziz Barrada and Dimitri Payet all remain unavailable to Bielsa because of injury and Lucas Ocampos may again have to settle for a spot on the bench.
Lorient have the longest injury list in Ligue 1 and therefore will likely be forced to name an unchanged lineup if Benjamin Jeannot passes a late fitness test. Evian loanee Gianni Bruno is on standby to partner Ayew up front.
Sadio Diallo, Wesley Lautoa, Raphael Guerreiro, Valentin Lavigne and Mathieu Coutadeur are among the key figures missing for the visitors.
Marseille possible starting lineup:
Mandanda; N'koulou, Dja Djedje, Morel, Fanni; Alessandrini, Romao, Imbula; Thauvin, Ayew, Gignac
Lorient possible starting lineup:
Lecomte; Kone, Le Goff, Bellugou, Gassama; Joufre, Ndong, Mesloub, Barthelme; Ayew, Bruno
Head To Head
Of the 19 league meetings between these two sides, Marseille have won nine, Lorient have won five and another five have been drawn, including December's reverse fixture.
That was the first time in four games that Lorient had avoided defeat to Marseille, who had won three successive games from 2013 to 2014 without conceding.
A promising sign for Ripoll is that three of Lorient's five wins against Les Olympiens have been at Stade Velodrome.
We say: Marseille 3-1 Lorient
They are in the worst form of their season, but Marseille will expect to beat a relegation-threatened opponent who are on a poor run themselves, particularly as they have home advantage. They have plenty of attacking weapons, probably too many for Lorient.
Joe Fish
