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Stade de Reims (7th place) vs. Olympique Marseille (6th place) in the 29th round of the french Ligue 1. Both teams are on the back of defeats and will try to recover with a result in this game.
Reims has been the overachiever of the season in Ligue 1: 7th place, 42 points, just 1 point behind their much more seasoned opponents of today. Reims lost 2 out of the last 3 games but both times on the road, both times very close (2-3) and both times against good opposition: Monaco and Toulouse. So it’s hard to say that Reims is in bad form, they are playing good football, they won the last game at home vs. Valenciennes 3-1 and overall won 3 of the last 5 games. At home Reims is 6-3-4, so not especially impressive, but they have always put in a fight on their own stadium and only Paris Saing Germain had an easier game here (0-3). Team news for Reims say that Glombard, Fofana, Ayite and Ghisolfi are out of this game with injuries.
Stade de Reims lineup: Agassa – Mandi, Weber, Tacalfred, Turan – Oniangue, Krychowiak, Devaux, Albaek – Fortes, de Preville
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Marseille lost the second game in a row last round after a pathetic showing at home against poor Nice (0-1), so now Marseille won only once in the last 4 games – an unimpressive 1-0 home win against Lorient. OM is trying to catch an Europa League spot this season so they could really use the three points at Reims but they won just 5 of 14 matches on the road and they have to face a really tough opponent today. Marseille is in poor form now and they struggle big time to create chances to score. Team news for Marseille are great: the visitors have a full squad to choose from and Gignac is back after serving a suspension last round – when he was sorely missed.
Olympique Marseille lineup: Mandanda – Fanni, N’Koulou, Mendes, Morel – Romao – Thauvin, Payet, Valbuena, Ayew – Gignac
Reims is playing excellent this season, they are such a hardworking side and have quality too. I watched them in a lot of matches and they gave a great fight to many solid teams, including Monaco on the road a couple of rounds ago (2-3), or Monaco at home earlier this season (1-1), when Reims should have won. Marseille looks a bit chaotic right now and they have never been a side to be trusted on the road. I find it highly unlikely for this out of form, disorganized Marseille side to beat a team like Reims on the road – it would be an upset, at a close analysis it`s clear that OM does not deserve to be a favorite. In the previous match between the two teams this season Marseille won at home with a 2-0 result in the Cup (Jan 2014), but Reims defeated Marseille at Velodrome 3-2 in the Ligue 1 in October. For today my tip is Reims double chance not to lose and I think they might even win it with a little bit of luck. Tip: Reims +0,5 handicap. Correct score prediction for this bet would be something like Reims – Marseille 1-0.
Pick: Reims (+1,5)
Odds: 1.68 @ Sbobet
Stake: 9
Possible profit: 6.12
Event date: 14 March
