Marseille will aim to tighten their grip on second place in the Ligue 1 table when they welcome Lyon to the Orange Velodrome for Sunday evening's Choc des Olympiques.

Jorge Sampaoli's side suffered a 3-2 loss in the first leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final with Feyenoord in midweek, while Les Gones most recently ran out 5-2 winners against Montpellier HSC.

Match preview

Architects of their own downfall after only 10 seconds of the second half against Feyenoord, Marseille had initially given themselves a fighting chance of travelling back home with a draw after Bamba Dieng and Gerson had responded to earlier strikes from Cyriel Dessers and Luis Sinisterra.

However, while fans were still taking their seats following the half-time break, a weak backpass from Duje Caleta-Car allowed Dessers to prod home his second of the contest, and Marseille were arguably fortunate not to lose by more following a plethora of sloppy defensive periods.

Sampaoli's side are undoubtedly still in the contest as they endeavour to turn the tie around on home soil, and having claimed a 1-0 win over Reims in their most recent domestic match, Marseille are comfortably six points clear of Rennes in second place at the time of writing.

While a Europa Conference League triumph would book their spot in the Europa League, Marseille are seemingly guaranteed to seal a return to the Champions League for 2022-23, and they welcome Lyon to the Orange Velodrome having won each of their last five home games in all tournaments.

Les Olympiens have also struck at least two goals in each game of that hot streak, but Sampaoli has some major selection decisions to make ahead of the visit of Feyenoord, and Lyon's faltering European hopes could sure do with a boost in a fiery derby matchup.

Forced to watch their Olympique rivals vie for European glory while they were left to relive their West Ham United humbling, Lyon put on a second-half show of ruthlessness at the Groupama Stadium to hit Montpellier for five and keep their slim hopes of continental qualification alive.

Despite ceding a two-goal lead to a pair of Elye Wahi and Teji Savanier efforts right before the break, Houssem Aouar struck his first Ligue 1 brace for over four years after the break to add to goals from Moussa Dembele and Karl Toko Ekambi, as well as Jonas Omlin inadvertently turning a Thiago Mendes free kick into his own net.

Les Gones have been nothing if not incredibly inconsistent under the tutelage of Bosz, whose side sit eighth in the table at the time of writing and are still in with a chance of sneaking into the European positions as they lie five points adrift of fifth-placed Nice with four games remaining.

Lyon are no strangers to a goal-laden performance in front of their own fans, but Bosz's men travel to Marseille on a four-game winless run away from home in all tournaments, and they have only posted three victories on the road in Ligue 1 since September.

The first Choc des Olympiques of the season saw Lyon overcome Marseille 2-1 at the Groupama Stadium, and Les Olympiens have alarmingly won just one of their last 14 in Ligue 1 against their upcoming visitors, who have not failed to score in this derby since 2016.

Team News

Marseille came out of the first leg with Feyenoord with no fresh injuries to report, and Sampaoli should only be without the services of Konrad de la Fuente and Leonardo Balerdi for Sunday's game.

A near-full complement of attacking options should allow Sampaoli the luxury of resting star man Dimitri Payet ahead of their crucial European clash, with both Amine Harit and Cengiz Under waiting in the wings.

Cedric Bakambu's place is at risk after a half-time substitution at De Kuip, with Arkadiusz Milik ready to hold the fort in the final third, and Pau Lopez can feel hopeful of displacing Steve Mandanda in goal.

Meanwhile, Lyon lost centre-back Damien Da Silva to a muscular problem in the first half of the win over Montpellier, and he joins Jason Denayer, Lenny Pintor, Rayan Cherki and Sinaly Diomande on the sidelines.

Bosz has at least been able to welcome Tanguy Ndombele and Leo Dubois back to training, with the former's return potentially allowing Thiago Mendes to deputise in the heart of defence unless Jerome Boateng is given the nod.

Late calls will have to be made on both Maxence Caqueret and Anthony Lopes, with Julian Pollersbeck likely to continue in between the sticks for the time being.

Marseille possible starting lineup:
Lopez; Lirola, Saliba, Caleta-Car, Peres; Guendouzi, Kamara, Gueye; Under, Milik, Harit

Lyon possible starting lineup:
Pollersbeck; Gusto, Lukeba, Mendes, Henrique; Aouar, Ndombele; Tete, Paqueta, Toko Ekambi; Dembele

We say: Marseille 2-2 Lyon

It is nigh-on impossible to predict what to expect from this Lyon side on a daily basis, but a Gones outfit boosted by a couple of returning players are capable of troubling a fatigued and rotated Marseille crop.

Bosz's side have struggled to win games away from home all season, but Marseille did not cover themselves in glory defensively on Thursday, and we can picture an entertaining derby ending with a share of the points.

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