Marseille will be searching for a second victory over Saint-Etienne this month when they travel to Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Sunday's round of 64 Coupe de France match.
Roberto De Zerbi's men beat their hosts 2-0 on December 8 and hope for a repeat in the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region, despite the home side's change of head coach following Olivier Dall'Oglio's departure, as they are keen to close out 2024 with success.
Match preview
Saint-Etienne welcome Marseille in one of two all-Ligue 1 clashes in the domestic cup round of 64 — Lens hosting Paris Saint-Germain being the other — hoping the competition provides some much-needed respite.
The Greens enter the tournament after losing three consecutive top-flight games and 10 overall, which has left them third-bottom in the top tier.
One of those losses was against this weekend's opponents, who got the better of Les Verts 2-0 at the start of the month in what proved to be Dall'Oglio's penultimate match at the club.
Although Eirik Horneland has since been appointed, the Norwegian does not resume until after Christmas, leaving Laurent Huard in charge of the Marseille tie.
It will be fascinating to see if the Frenchman masterminds an unforeseen success against opponents they have lost to in three consecutive meetings.
De Zerbi may be facing an interim opponent in the opposite dugout, but the Italian's desire to claim another triumph over the struggling home side cannot be played down.
Adrien Rabiot and Mason Greenwood scored for Les Olympiens on December 8, and the travelling support will welcome another routine success, which would see Les Minots record a fourth consecutive win over Saint-Etienne.
Despite following up that 2-0 success with a 1-1 draw with Lille last Saturday, Marseille enter the round of 64 unbeaten in four since a shock 3-1 defeat on home soil to Auxerre in early November and aim to avoid a similar outcome against an opponent they typically fare well against.
Having been eliminated on penalties in consecutive seasons against FC Annecy and Rennes, you would forgive the 10-time Coupe de France champions for hoping to avoid spot-kicks on Sunday.
With Marseille second in Ligue 1 — albeit 10 points behind PSG, who have played a game more — and uninvolved in Europe, the Olympians will accept a deep cup run this term to add to a potentially high top-flight finish, thus highlighting the importance of avoiding defeat at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
Team News
Interim Saint-Etienne boss Huard is expected to have Thomas Monconduit (leg), Anthony Briancon (knee), Ibrahima Wadji (muscle), Mickael Nade (knee), Augustine Boakye (leg), Yvann Macon (knee) and Ben Old (knee) missing through injury.
The hosts will hope leading Ligue 1 scorer Zuriko Davitashvili (five goals) ends his drought this weekend, having not found the back of the net since hitting a brace in the 4-2 loss at Angers in October.
Since Davitashvili's brace, Les Verts have had four different goalscorers — Nade, Ibrahim Sissoko, Benjamin Bouchouari and Lucas Stassin — possibly highlighting the club's inability to rely on one source for goals.
Despite a shorter list of injured players, Marseille are without the services of long-term absentee Valentin Carboni (knee) and the quartet of Elye Wahi (muscle), Faris Moumbagna (knee), Ulisses Garcia (calf) and Ruben Blanco (knee).
Although he fired blanks against Lille, Greenwood has notched two goals in the away side's previous three games, including the Olympians' recent visit to Sunday's opponents, and the forward aims to add to his 10 goals this term.
Saint-Etienne possible starting lineup:
Larsonneur; Appiah, Batubinsika, Abdelhamid, Petrot, Cornud; Bouchouari, Ekwah, Mouton; Davitashvili, Stassin
Marseille possible starting lineup:
De Lange; Murillo, Balerdi, Kondogbia; Henrique, Hojbjerg, Rongier, Merlin; Greenwood, Maupay, Rabiot
We say: Saint-Etienne 1-3 Marseille
While Huard could spring tactical surprises against in-form Marseille, we expect the visitors to adapt swiftly before running away with a comfortable victory, a result that would extend their winning run against Saint-Etienne.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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