It’s time for Le Classique as fierce rivals Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain prepare to butt heads in the Coupe de France round of 16.
Ligue 1’s top two sides, who also boast the two best Coupe de France records, have a rich history of producing fiery, entertaining affairs and that will almost certainly be the case here, with the chance to eliminate the other at this early stage too good to pass up on.
Here’s all you need to know about this one.
Marseille vs PSG H2H Results (Last Five Games)
Current Form (Last Five Games)
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Marseille team news
Centre-back Eric Bailly will serve the last match of his seven-game ban stemming from a challenge on Hyeres’ Almike Moussa N’Diaye in this competition last month. Fellow defender Leonardo Balerdi is also out for this one after accumulating too many yellow cards.
Amine Harit remains out with a serious injury.
(3-4-2-1): Lopez; Mbemba, Gigot, Kolasinac; Clauss, Guendouzi, Rongier, Tavares; Malinovskyi, Payet; Vitinha.
PSG team news
PSG will be without Kylian Mbappe as he continues to recover from injury, while Neymar may not be risked either as he battles a groin problem. Centre-back Sergio Ramos has also been struggling with something similar.
Nordi Mukiele is battling a hamstring problem and Presnel Kimpembe is not yet ready to return from his Achilles problem, despite making it back into training.
One player who will be available, however, is Marco Verratti. The Italian midfielder was hit with a three-game ban for his red card against Reims but the third of those is suspended, and having already sat out the past two games, Verratti is free to play here.
(4-3-1-2): Donnarumma; Hakimi, Marquinhos, Danilo, Bernat; Zaire-Emery, Verratti, Fabian; Vitinha; Messi, Ekitike.
The two top sides in France right now, Marseille and PSG love facing each other. There’s a raw emotion about this fixture that isn’t easy to find these days.
While PSG are favourites in nearly every game they play, Christophe Galtier’s side are far from their best right now. Without Mbappe and Neymar, they’re far more human than usual, even if Lionel Messi is still alive and kicking, and recent performances have shown a team who are not as fluid as you’d expect.
PSG’s general quality has got them through their recent fixtures and, truthfully, it’ll probably do the same here, but don’t expect Marseille to make it easy for them.
Prediction: Marseille 1-2 PSG
