As fan furore grows once again, Marseille endeavour to end a wretched four-game winless run when they tackle crisis club Metz at the Orange Velodrome in Friday's Ligue 1 fixture.
Les Olympiens' troubled season hit another low ebb as they lost 1-0 to strugglers Lyon last time out, while Les Grenats' predicament was not helped by a 2-1 defeat at home to Lorient.
Match preview
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Marseille may have started the New Year as they mean to continue by beating minnows Thionville Lusitanos in the Coupe de France, although that 1-0 success was hardly convincing, and Gennaro Gattuso's men have not been so fortuitous in the weeks that have followed.
That slender cup victory represents Les Olympiens' only victory in 2024 to date, as either side of Ligue 1 stalemates with Strasbourg and Monaco, Rennes eliminated them from the Coupe de France on penalties, and they cut incredibly toothless figures when faced with a Lyon-sized test on February 4.
Marseille's Choc des Olympiques rivals may be embroiled in a shock relegation dogfight, but Alexandre Lacazette's 10th Ligue 1 goal of the season was enough to propel Les Gones to victory, and Gattuso's side did not force opposing goalkeeper Anthony Lopes into a single save on the evening.
With their eight-game unbeaten run in Ligue 1 crashing and burning at the Groupama Stadium, Marseille languish in eighth place in the table - six points behind Lille in the final Champions League spot and three worse off than sixth-placed Lens - and Olympiens staff fronted up to leaders of supporters' groups in a meeting on Tuesday.
Discussions were believed to have been amicable in nature, but Marseille have supposedly been warned that future talks will not be so calm should Gattuso's men - unbeaten in 10 Ligue 1 matches on familiar soil - suffer their first top-flight home loss of the season on Friday.
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Only Nice have also navigated their first 10 Ligue 1 home games of the 2023-24 season without suffering a single defeat, whereas upcoming foes Metz were condemned to their sixth Stade Saint-Symphorien reverse of the campaign when relegation rivals Lorient paid a visit in gameweek 20.
It took Didier Lamkel Ze just three minutes to respond for Laszlo Boloni's side after Mohamed Bamba had propelled Lorient into the lead, but a second-half strike from Panos Katseris prolonged Metz's misery; Les Grenats head to Marseille on a horrendous eight-game losing streak in all tournaments.
Not since coincidentally overcoming Lorient 3-2 at the end of November have Boloni's side avoided a domestic defeat, and while they remain out of the automatic relegation places for the time being, the 16th-placed visitors are now only ahead of Les Merlus on goal difference and one point clear of basement boys Clermont.
Throughout their eight-game losing sequence, Les Grenats have only shipped multiple goals on three occasions, but Boloni's unproductive offensive line have only managed to strike three times at the correct end of the field; an average of one goal every 240 minutes.
Metz could pat themselves on the back for holding Marseille to a 2-2 draw in August, which saw the two sides play out their fifth stalemate from their last six games, but not since the start of the 2004-05 season - when wing wizard Franck Ribery bagged two assists for Les Grenats in a 3-1 win - have the visitors prevailed on Velodrome soil.
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Team News
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Six of Marseille's seven Africa Cup of Nations representatives have now travelled home following their eliminations from the competition, but DR Congo captain Chancel Mbemba remains unavailable for domestic duty as his nation prepare to tackle hosts Ivory Coast in the semi-finals.
The Olympiens' midfield has been ravaged owing to the absences of Valentin Rongier (knee), Geoffrey Kondogbia (muscle) and Jordan Veretout (unspecified), although the latter two are reportedly winning their battles to be fit for Friday's contest.
Ismaila Sarr is also expected to be involved despite a hand injury and could threaten Iliman Ndiaye's spot in the final third, but Bilal Nadir (ACL) and Amir Murillo (muscle) are confined to the treatment room.
Meanwhile, Metz have welcomed all four members of their AFCON contingent - Kevin Van Den Kerkhof, Fali Cande, Ablie Jallow and Lamine Camara - back to France, and Gambia's Jallow was the only member of the quartet not to feature against Lorient.
Should the 25-year-old be given the green light to make his comeback on Friday, Metz will travel south with a clean bill of health, as no players are reported to be nursing any injuries at this juncture.
Marseille possible starting lineup:
Lopez; Clauss, Gigot, Balerdi, Merlin; Veretout, Kondogbia, Ounahi; Sarr, Aubameyang, Harit
Metz possible starting lineup:
Oukidja; Colin, Traore, Cande, Udol; Jacques, N'Doram, Camara; Asoro, Mikautadze, Lamkel Ze
We say: Marseille 2-0 Metz
Stalemates have been commonplace between Marseille and Metz over the past few years, but Les Olympiens would do well to convert one point into three on Friday lest they risk the fans' wrath again.
Thankfully for Gattuso's men, their visitors' attack has been one of the least threatening in the league all season long - only Clermont boast a worse offensive record - and Les Olympiens should chalk up a couple of strikes en route to a relief-inducing victory.
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