Marseille vs Lazio

Marseille and Lazio will trade tackles in a crunch UEFA Europa League Group E match-up at the Stade Velodrome.

It’s been a bleak Europa League campaign for Marseille so far, as they’ve drawn all three opening Group E matches, two of which ended goalless, including an uneventful stalemate in the reverse fixture in Rome. Despite a slow start, Jorge Sampaoli’s men are only two points adrift of second-placed Lazio, meaning a victory here would see them leapfrog their visitors. That might be easier said than done, as the hosts have only won one of their previous seven meetings with this opposition across major European competitions (D2, L4). What’s more, they have failed to win any of their last four home matches in the Europa League (D1, L3) after winning four in a row beforehand. Scoring has also been an issue of late, with Marseille drawing a blank in two of their last three competitive home outings.

In the meantime, the visitors have experienced mixed fortunes across their inaugural three Europa League games this season (W1, D1, L1), failing to find the net in each match they didn’t win in that run. Lazio’s underwhelming start to Group E is unlikely to change this time around, though, as they head into proceedings winless in their last ten European fixtures away from home (D3, L7) en route to setting the club’s worst-ever such streak. Maurizio Sarri’s side can’t find any comfort in their recent form on the road either, having failed to win any of their previous six competitive away games (D2, L4). Moreover, Lazio’s defensive frailties have seen them concede 2+ goals in each of their last three road trips in all competitions.