One-time French first-division giants, Olympique Marseille, travel to 4th-placed Lille’s home, the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, for their Round 28 Ligue 1 fixture on Friday night as they try to finish the league season on a much better note than they started it.

Locked in a close battle for 7th place with two other teams in Rennes and Reims, who are also on 39 points, Marseille will be hoping to turn around their recent form of three straight losses in all competitions.

Lille Have Not Lost at Home in 14 Games

The last time Paulo Fonseca’s team lost a home game was 7 months ago in September 2023 in a league game with Reims, and have since gone 14 games unbeaten in all competitions.

Lille’s form in front of their fans at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy has been so great that if there were a league table for only home games, they would be first as they have won 30 points from their home games this season, at least 1 more than any other side.

To further emphasize Lille's dominance at home, it has been over 14 months since Les Dogues failed to score a goal in front of their fans, playing out a goalless draw with Clermont at the start of February 2023.

Fonseca's men have since then found the back of the net in an outrageous 27 home matches, including each of their last 21 in the top flight.

Marseille’s Need to Rediscover Gasset’s Honeymoon Form

Marseille’s new boss, Jean-Louis Gasset, after taking over from Gennaro Gattuso, managed to go on a 5-game winning streak, with the biggest of those wins were a home thumping of Villarreal in the UEFA Europa League and a 5-1 league win over Clermont.

The winning run, now chalked down to a honeymoon phase, appears to be over with Marseille having lost their last 3 games in a row but if they want anything out of this game versus Lille on Friday, Marseille will have to rediscover what made them so good in the honeymoon phase.

Olympique Marseille managed a 0-0 draw against Lille at home when the two sides met in the league earlier in the season, and will hope they can repeat their home form in this away game especially seeing as their away form has been one of the worst in the league.

Match Stats

Lille are ranked 5th in goals scored per match (1.4 goals) while Marseille is ranked 3rd in goals scored per match (1.5 goals).

Lille have kept the most clean sheets in the competition (14) while Marseille haven't scored in their last 3 matches in all competitions.

Lille have managed to score 1+ goals in their last 21 home matches in Ligue 1 while Marseille have in each of their last 17 away Ligue 1 matches, allowed 1 or more goals.

You can check out the Lille vs Marseille Ligue 1 game on MSport here.

It’s a clash between third and fourth in the English Premier League on Wednesday night, Aston Villa, a side that has been a thorn in the side of the traditional top-four clubs this season except for Man. United, comes for more at City’s expense at the Etihad.

Just three days after missing out on the chance to go top of the table with a win over other title challengers, Arsenal, Pep Guardiola’s Man City has to quickly get over that disappointment and march on ahead as they still have a chance, albeit a much lower one.

Unai Emery’s Villa on the other hand, with just 3 points above Spurs, will have to avoid dropping any more points with the London club on their heels trying to overtake them for the last UEFA Champions League spot.

Manchester City’s Etihad is Still an Unbeaten Ground for Them

Pep’s City, despite all the sub-par performances against the traditional top-four teams this season, are very much unbeaten at the Etihad in the English Premier League this season and will be looking to maintain that stellar record against Villa on Wednesday.

Man City knows very well how dangerous Unai Emery’s side can be after suffering a 1-0 defeat at their hands in the reverse fixture at Villa Park earlier in the season so it would be very unwise to underestimate them going into this game.

Fortunately for City, aside from their impeccable home record and form, they have their awesome dominant home head-to-head record versus Villa to draw inspiration from when they so need to have beaten Villa in all their last eight meetings at the Etihad.

Villa has taken Points Away From All the Big Guys

Aston Villa have taken points away from all but one of the big six clubs in the league this season and that is Manchester United not City as even the defending champions have suffered a loss at the hands of the Villains.

All those points are what has helped them secure 4th place in the EPL this season, a monumental achievement that comes as a surprise to many and coming into this one a lot more than just a draw would not be too far from the minds of this Villa team.

Their eight-game unbeaten run away from home should not hurt either as they venture to a ground where Manchester City have not lost yet this season.

Match Stats

Man City are ranked 3rd in goals scored per match (2.2 goals) while Aston Villa are ranked 5th in goals scored per match (2.1 goals) in the EPL this season.

No defeats can be found in Manchester City's 44 most recent home games in all competitions while Aston Villa are on an unbeaten run of 8 away games in their all competitions participation.

Manchester City have managed to score at least two goals in their 14 most recent home clashes with Aston Villa in all competitions.

You can check out the Manchester City vs Aston Villa game on MSport here.

With just 9 games to go in the 2023/2024 English Premier League (EPL) season, and just a single point separating them in 1st and 3rd, Mikel Arteta’s Gunners dare enter Pep Guardiola’s City to try and increase the gap between the two title contenders.

Such an outcome on Sunday would go a long way to pretty much all but make Arsenal the outright favourites to be named the champions of the English Premier League for the first time in a very very long time.

Defending Champions, City, Will Have the Etihad Roaring

Manchester City have looked like a team slightly off the pace compared to the team they were last season and it has been noticed by their opponents as reflected in their results against the big sides.

However, their incredible home form this season should be more than enough inspiration for them going into this game against the leaders of the EPL standings, Arsenal.

Pep’s side has not lost a single game at the Etihad this season in all competitions with teams like Manchester United, Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea, RB Leipzig, Brighton, Newcastle and Brentford, the last team to beat City at the Etihad, having all been there.

Together with Liverpool, City are the only team to not have lost a single game in all their 14 league games at home and one can expect the “Citizen Blue Army” to roar the loudest they have roared this season when Arsenal come into town on Sunday.

Gunners' Recent Edge Over City & Their Great Away Form

Mikel Arteta's side after suffering losses in all three games he played against Man. City last season seems to have found the remedy to City’s poison as Arsenal have beaten City in the two games the two sides have played this season in all competitions (one via penalties.

That should be Arsenal's greatest source of inspiration going into this encounter but if for some reason that should not be enough, the Gunners’ incredible away form should be a very potent substitute.

Arsenal have the most points, (29), from their 14 games played outside the Emirates in which they have managed to win 9 games, draw 2, and lose just 3, the same as their opponents on Sunday, Manchester City.

Last season, Arsenal led the EPL table for a very long time and fluttered when it mattered most, losing the EPL title to City by succumbing to heavy defeats at their hands, now is the opportunity for them to exact a little revenge.

Possible Absentees:

According to reports, the likes of Bukayo Saka, Kevin De Bryne, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Gabriel Martilleni, Akanji, Ederson, and Matheus Nunes, could all miss the all-important clash for both City and Arsenal.

Match Stats

Manchester City are ranked 3rd in goals scored per match (2.3 goals) while Arsenal is ranked 1st in goals scored per match (2.5 goals) in the EPL this season.

Arsenal are ranked 2nd away from home this season in the league together with City. However, they have kept the most clean sheets in the competition (11) and have been awarded the most penalties this season (8).

At least one goal has been scored by Manchester City in all of their last 55 home matches in all competitions with Erling Haaland the EPL’s top scorer (18 goals).

Manchester City's most recent record of 43 consecutive home games in all competitions consists of no losses.

You can check out the Manchester City vs Arsenal EPL game on MSport here

Two sides separated by just a point on the French League table, and having played out 1-1 draws in their last two meetings, Lille and Lens, will go at each other again this Friday in the Derby Du Nord at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

With the possibility of securing a UEFA Champions League spot for next season’s new format European competition still a possibility for both teams, a lot more aside the pride of beating a derby rival is set to ride on this Ligue 1 classic.

Lille Might be distracted by European Glory but…

With the 2020-21 Ligue 1 champions having booked their place in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League with a date against English surprise performers, Aston Villa, Lille sure have a lot to think about regarding their European hopes.

However, it would come as a great deal of shock if Lille let their European dreams distract them from the task of keeping their incredible home form intact against derby rivals, Lens, in their battle to make the top four, especially given the goal difference and point advantage they have over their competitors.

Paulo Fonseca’s side have their astonishing streak of home form to thank for their fourth-placed standing, as they have only suffered three league defeats at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy since the beginning of the 2022-23 season, including just one in the current campaign.

Since Reims left with a shock 2-1 win under their belts in September, Fonseca's men have strung together a nine-match unbeaten home run in Ligue 1, a sequence that includes a 1-1 draw with Paris Saint-Germain and a 2-0 win over Monaco.

Lens: No European Distractions and Their Away Form is…

Frank Haise’s men may have rued getting knocked out of the UEFA Europa League but that misfortune may just be the thing that helps their domestic season as they can now singularly focus on trying to make it to Europe again next season.

First in their way to achieving that goal is a tough side, one they have not managed to beat in their last two meetings but the fact that they will be going away should serve as great motivation given their stellar away form currently although the Stade Pierre-Mauroy is a fortress Lille at the moment too.

Indeed, Lens have taken 10 points from the last 12 on offer on their travels and have kept an incredible eight clean sheets in their last 10 Ligue 1 away matches - no team possesses more on the road in the entire season.

Match Stats

Lille have kept the most clean sheets in the competition (14), while Lens have kept the most clean sheets away from home in the French league this season (8).

Lille are ranked 5th in goals scored per match (1.4 goals) in the league. Similarly, on goals, it’s been 13 months since Lille last failed to score in a Ligue 1 game at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.

Lille’s Angel Gomes is ranked 2nd in big chances created in the competition (10) while Lens’ Florian Sotoca is ranked 3rd in big chances created in the competition (10).

Lens is ranked 7th in goals scored per match (1.3 goals). Similarly, Lens has seen under 2.5 goals scored in all of their 3 most recent clashes with Lille in Ligue 1.

You can check out the Lille vs Lens Derby du Nord game in Ligue 1 on MSport here.