Two sides neck-and-neck in the Ligue 1 table will lock horns at the Orange Velodrome on Saturday evening as Marseille play host to Bordeaux.
Both teams have taken nine points from six games this season, with Marseille sitting 10th while Bordeaux lie one place above in ninth heading into the weekend.
Match preview
Given the underwhelming form of last season's Champions League semi-finalists and Marseille's great rivals Lyon, Andre Villas-Boas could have been forgiven for being optimistic about his side's chances of coming out on top in the Choc des Olympiques.
Les Olympiens started the game well as Dimitri Payet opened the scoring, but the former West Ham United man was given his marching orders three minutes later before Houssem Aouar levelled from the penalty spot all before the half-hour mark.
No more goals were to be had in that derby as Marseille registered a 1-1 draw in Ligue 1 for the third game in a row, with Villas-Boas's side also playing out stalemates with Lille and Metz before the international break.
Les Olympiens will be looking to end a four-game winless run when they welcome Bordeaux to the Orange Velodrome in gameweek seven, with Marseille yet to triumph in a league outing since their dramatic 1-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain.
Marseille can potentially lift themselves into the top five with a win before Sunday's fixtures take place, but Bordeaux are a team who know a thing or two about keeping clean sheets.
Bordeaux's defensive resilience this season is well-documented - Les Girondins have recorded five shut-outs from six Ligue 1 games thus far - and this weekend's visitors enjoyed a comfortable 3-0 victory over basement side Dijon before the international break.
Remi Oudin, Toma Basic and Samuel Kalu were all on target for Jean-Louis Gasset's side, who will be searching for their third victory of the season when they travel to Marseille in gameweek seven.
Bordeaux have only shipped two goals all season - both strikes coming in their 2-1 loss to Lens - while second-placed Lille are the only other side who can boast an equally impressive defensive record.
However, with just six goals at the correct end of the pitch - the lowest in the top half - Gasset will be hoping that his attacking contingent can start firing on a more consistent basis heading into the winter months.
Bordeaux have only prevailed once in their last 10 meetings with Marseille, with Les Olympiens running out 3-1 winners in this fixture last season before playing out a goalless stalemate at Bordeaux in February.
Marseille Ligue 1 form: WWLDDD
Bordeaux Ligue 1 form: DWDLDW
Team News
Payet is suspended for this encounter owing to his red card in the draw with Lyon, meaning that Nemanja Radonjic could be in line for a start on the left-hand side.
Other than that, Villas-Boas has no other absentees to deal with for Saturday, but Marseille's Champions League clash with Olympiacos in midweek will surely come into the manager's thinking with regards to team selection.
Michael Cuisance made the switch to Marseille on loan from Bayern Munich after a move to Leeds United collapsed, and the 21-year-old could make his debut here.
As for the visitors, Bordeaux have confirmed that Kalu will play no part after picking up a hamstring injury, which is likely to rule him out for a number of weeks.
Centre-back Mexer also suffered an injury in the same area while on duty with Mozambique and may be forced to miss this one out as well, but Otavio should come back into midfield after serving a suspension against Dijon.
Les Girondins have recently welcomed veteran midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa to the club, and the 33-year-old is in line to make his debut this weekend after joining as a free agent.
Marseille possible starting lineup:
Mandanda; Sakai, Gonzalez, Caleta-Car, Amavi; Kamara, Sanson, Cuisance; Thauvin, Benedetto, Radonjic
Bordeaux possible starting lineup:
Costil; Sabaly, Koscielny, Pablo, Benito; Basic, Otavio; Oudin, Ben Arfa, De Preville; Maja
We say: Marseille 1-1 Bordeaux
It remains to be seen whether or not Bordeaux can keep up their remarkable defensive record as the season hots up, but Gasset's men are now prepared to come up against a Marseille side without one of their key attackers this weekend. This promises to be an extremely tight affair, and while both managers will be hoping to mark their return from the international break with a hard-fought win, we are expecting this encounter to end all square.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 1.5:databody check tags ::
Previews by email
