Marseille – Nice

Marseille will host Nice in Round 28 of the French Ligue 1, hoping to get back in the race for a top 3 finish. Nice has its own agenda though, and would love a point at Velodrome.

Marseille is on the 5th spot in Ligue 1, 6 points away from the 3rd place and 5 points away from the 4th place. Needless to say a win is mandatory against lowly Nice. Marseille is in decent form, connecting 3 wins with 2 draws in 5 games before losing last round at PSG 2-0, an expected result. Team news for Marseille are pretty good: they only miss key striker Gignac (suspended), a big blow, but there are no other absentees for the home team.

Marseille lineup: Mandanda – Fanni, N’Koulou, Mendes, Morel – Imbula, Romao – Thauvin, Valbuena, Ayew – Payet

Bet with the best odds and highest limits at Pinnacle.

Nice is on the 16th place in the standings and 9 points clear of the relegation zone, so they should be safe this season and play Ligue 1 football next season too. They don`t have too much pressure for this game. Nice is currently in very poor form with just 1 point in the last 4 rounds. Also, their performance away from home this season is just horrible: 1 win, 2 draws and 10 losses, 5-21 goal difference. With these stats Nice will not be very confident coming into this game. Nice also has serious squad problems at the moment: Pejcinovic, Traore, Bruins and Digart are unavailable to play. Team news also say Kolodziejczak is questionable but has over 50% chances to take part in the game.

Nice lineup: Hassen – Puel, Genevois, Bodmer, Kolodziejczak – Mendy, Abriel – Eysseric, Bruls, Bautheac – Cvitanich

Marseille is not a team that I usually trust at these kind of odds … but they have been really good in the last month or so, playing solid football – even in the PSG loss. They are also very motivated while their opponents can easily lose this game without repercursions. Nice’s poor form, their abysmal away record and their injuries, combined with Marseille`s solid play of late, make me believe that this one is there for the taking for OM and I don’t feel there are premises for an upset. Tip: Marseille -1 asian handicap; I think a return of investment would normally be the worst case scenario, but Marseille proved this year they can cover handicaps. Correct score prediction would be something like Olympique Marseille – Nice 2-0.

Pick: Marseille (-1 Asian Handicap)
Odds: 1.96 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 7.68
Event date: 7 March