Marseille Expected to Remain in Second as They Throw Lorient Closer to the Drop Zone

FC Lorient vs Olympique Marseille Preview 08/05/2022

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Following their boot from the Europa Conference League, Marseille will be aiming to finish second in Ligue 1 and keep Rennes off their back within the final three games of the campaign as they meet with a Lorient side still not yet safe from relegation.

It would take complete disaster for both Lorient to be relegated and Marseille to give up their second-placed spot in Ligue 1, with the form of those below the Merlucciidaes in the fight for survival too poor, while Marseille have been sitting second for months already.

Moreover, the away side here lost their place in the Europa League Conference final in midweek with a 0-0 draw at home to Feyenoord following on from their 3-2 loss to the Dutch side away from home. It now means attention turns to remaining in the Champions League spots for Marseille with them having a tough run in from now until the end of the season.

The clash with Lorient should be a relatively comfortable one on paper, but with third-placed Rennes and Europa League-chasing Strasbourg to come, there’s still a chance Marseille falls off a cliff here.

They are currently three points clear of Rennes in third, but with a stunning +21 goal difference in favour of the third-placed team and with Monaco also three points behind in fourth, they cannot afford to lose.

Jorge Sampaoli’s men are also coming off the back of a torrid result in Ligue 1 last weekend when they lost at home to rivals Lyon 3-0. It means they haven’t won a game in their past three since edging past Reims away from home, and they simply must now return to form or they could end up as low as fourth come to the end of the week.

As for Lorient, they are in the midst of torrid form having been battered by Rennes 5-0 two weeks ago, before losing to Reims on home soil last weekend. It has now sucked the club closer to relegation, but Christophe Pélissier’s side should still be confident in getting the job done and remaining in Ligue 1 for next season.

On the other hand, the gap is only three points on the relegation play-off spot, but with them seven clear of the automatic relegation place of 19th, a win here will officially keep them adrift the automatic drop zone spots.

A win is not expected, however, and Forebet predicts a victory for Marseille and for the game to see under 2.5 goals.