Olympique Marseille vs Saint-Etienne 18/09/20

18 September 2020

High-flying Olympique Marseille will be looking to maintain a 100% start to their Ligue 1 campaign when they lock horns with Saint-Etienne at the Stade Vélodrome this weekend.

It’s been one hell of a start to the season for Marseille, who have won both of their opening Ligue 1 fixtures. After beating Brest 3-2 in a five-game thriller on the road, ‘Les Phocéens’ went on to beat reigning champions PSG 1-0 in Paris. Although this will be their first competitive home match since March, the Stade Vélodrome has been a venue of entertainment this calendar year. Three of Marseille’s five fixtures held at this stadium since the calendar flipped have seen over 3.5 goals and both teams on the scoresheet. But, against this backdrop, the ‘clean-sheet’ theme will play a significant role here, considering all four of their previous top-flight H2Hs held at this stadium have seen Andre Villas-Boas’ side beat St Etienne ‘to nil.’

The visitors have been nothing short of outstanding since the turn of the 2020/21 campaign, winning both of their opening Ligue games via the same 2-0 scoreline. However, this will be St Etienne’s first league trip this term, and their away form in 2020 indicates a lack of confidence. Indeed, ‘Les Verts’ have lost six of ten competitive matches on the road since the turn of the year (W4), scoring under 1.5 goals on five of those occasions. In turn, getting on the scoresheet here could be a daunting prospect for Claude Puel’s men. St Etienne have drawn a blank in nine of their last 17 top-flight trips to Marseille, scoring precisely once per match in the other eight.