Marseille hold slim hope for top three finish and must beat Monaco
Marcelo Bielsa and Marseille (6/5 favourites with Coral) must be wondering what went wrong this term, after starting the Ligue 1 campaign so well and sitting at the top of the table for so long.
Now, with three matches to go of the season, L’OM are down in fourth place, and out of the title race, but at east still have a slim hope of finishing in the top three and thus qualify for the Champions League.
Their next opponents are Monaco, who happen to be the club directly ahead of them – by five points. So, by beating the Principality state, it will certainly be an intriguing end to the season.
That is especially as Bielsa has given no conformation on his future, despite his owner’s wishing that the in-demand Argentine would stay.
For Monaco, meanwhile, they are in magnificent form of late, although they began the season poorly, and can take confidence in the fact that they are undefeated against their fellow south coast side in their last four meetings.
They beat Marseille 1-0 this term at the Stade Louis II, and are tempting 5/2 chances for victory again, or 11/5 to get a draw, which would all-but be good enough for them too to secure a Champions League berth.
In terms of goals, manager Leonardo Jardim will be hoping that his teenage star forward Anthony Martial can carry on his great current form of getting eight in his last nine league games. The young Frenchman is 7/4 to net anytime here.
At the other end of his career, former Manchester United attacker Dimitar Berbatov has also enjoyed a decent season for Monaco, striking nine times in all competitions. Brilliant Bulgarian Berbatov is also priced at 7/4.
The forward threats for hosts Marseille will almost certainly come from the likes of soon-to-be out-of-contract duo Andre-Pierre Gignac and Andre Ayew, who have highly impressive for much of this term.
Both players, who along with Bielsa have been linked with moves to the Premier League this summer, are priced at 6/4 and 7/4 respectively in the scoring market.
