Prediction: Marseille vs Paris Saint-Germain

Verdict: Kylian Mbappe to score anytime

Best Odds: 21/20

Bookmaker: William Hill

High-flying Paris Saint-German travel to Marseille hoping to extend their unbeaten start to the new Ligue 1 Conforama campaign in a French Classique that’s become somewhat of an uneven contest in recent years.

Marseille

It’s been an erratic and quite inconsistent start to the new season across all competitions for Olympique de Marseille. Last four matches stand to attest to the claim as Rudi Garcia’s men alternated between defeats, losses and draws in Ligue 1 and Europa League.

Having rose to the occasion to bounce back from a two-goal deficit at Nice and grab a morale-boosting win thanks to a brace from Lucas Ocampos, one goal from Luiz Gustavo and Lees Melou’s own goal, Marseille failed to build on the win next time out at Strasbour. Dimitri Payet opened the scoring after only six minutes but Marseille ended up being forced to chase the result and had Kostas Mitroglu save them the embarrassment with only two minutes left to play for a hard-fought 3-3 draw. Marseille lack consistency in the Europa League as well but are still in the running for the knockout stages. Les Olympiens opened the European season with a 1-0 win over Konyaspor before suffering the same-result defeat at the hands of RB Salzburg. They managed to get back to winning ways with a 2-1 win over Guimaraes during the week and will use the restored confidence in the forthcoming derby. Marseille will need to be on their best for the upcoming clash and Rudi Garcia is tasked with mending the leaky defence in order to avoid disaster against the side that owns the best attack in the league.

Team News

Jordan Amavi is pushing for a starting berth and could replace Patrice Evra on the left back.

Coach Rudi Garcia has no injury worries ahead of the big game and will have full crop of players to choose from.

Paris Saint-Germain

Heavy investments are beginning to pay off for French giants Paris Saint-Germain who have been rather compelling in the opening exchanges of the new season.

Without a single defeat and with just the goalless draw against Montpeiller ruining their perfect record across all competitions, Unai Emery’s men have been nothing short of impressive. PSG have thus far scored impressive 29 goals in nine Ligue 1 matches which is the number that perfectly illustrates their strength in attack. Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Edinson Cavani have been in flying form, whereas the rest of the team is generously helping them in their exploits. With a six-point lead on top of the Ligue 1 table and three wins from as many Champions League matches, Paris Saint-Germain are running smoothly on all fronts and will be looking to stay that way after the highly-anticipated Classique. PSG are coming off from a comprehensive Champions League triumph over Anderlecht on Wednesday with Neymar, Mbappe and Cavani all getting their names of the scoreline. It’s been six years since PSG last lost to Marseille and the form they are currently in offers great promise that this could very well end up being a one-sided affair.

Team News

Hatem Ben Arfa is struggling with injury and will be unable to help his team in Marseille.

Defender Thiago Silva has picked up a thigh injury and will also be out of contention.

Key Factors to Consider

• PSG won 12 of their 13 matches across all competitions this season
• Les Parisiens scored 29 goals in 9 Ligue 1 matches thus far
• Lucas Ocampos scored 4 goals in last 3 matches for Marseille
• Marseille last beat PSG in 2011
• Hosts failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 4 matches

Conclusion

PSG travel to Marseille on the back of an impressive form. The French giants have invested a significant sum of money and went on to crush the world record this summer so it’s fair to say their investment is paying off with all the great results the team is recording. PSG hold a great upper hand over their fierce rivals in a Classique which has lost a great deal of its significance over the past couple of years after turning into a one-sided contest.

Verdict: Kylian Mbappe to score anytime

Best Odds: 21/20

Bookmaker: William Hill