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Recommended bets
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Marseille have won three consecutive European matches, doing so for the first time in 12 years. OM have never lost at home to a Swiss side, winning two and drawing two.
Both teams to score NO is 10.11.
Marseille to win and both teams to score NO is 7/4.
Dimitri Payet has scored nine goals in UEFA competition for OM. He is 5/1 to break the deadlock and 9/5 to score anytime.
Match preview
Will Olympique de Marseille stay on course to reach this season’s final at Arena Kombëtare?
Les Phocéens are the only French club to be crowned European champions, beating A.C. Milan in the Champions League Final of 1993.
In the intervening period, they’ve lost in the 2016 Coupe de France Final, against PSG, and the Europa League Final two years later to Atlético Madrid.
But, as the current second-favourites to win the Europa Conference League, this competition is a fantastic opportunity to end the trophy draught.
Jorge Sampaoli’s side are only in this tournament because they finished third in their Europa League group, with just one victory to their name.
Galatasaray and Lazio took the top two spots in Group E with Lokomotiv Moskva, the only side OM managed to beat, ending up rock bottom.
Nevertheless, Marseille took to this competition like a duck to water, hammering Qarabağ 6-1 in the first knockout round.
Arkadiusz Milik with a brace at home before Pape Gueye, Mattéo Guendouzi and Konrad de la Fuente all netted in Azerbaijan.
Domestically though, les Olympiens are in terrible form, losing 1-0 to Monaco on Sunday night, meaning they’re now winless in three.
This has seen Marseille drop down to third in Ligue 1 with Stade Rennais just one point behind in the race for Champions League places.
Will they get back on track with a first leg victory in Europe?
FC Basel meanwhile dominated Swiss football for almost a decade, winning eight straight titles between 2010 and 2017.
However, BSC Young Boys have been crowned champions in each of the last four campaigns with Basel consign to second or third place finishes.
Right now, Guille Abascal’s side are third in the Swiss Super League, a whopping 15 points behind run-away leaders FC Zürich.
Despite this, RotBlau’s European record remains strong, reaching the Champions League last 16 in 2018 and the Europa League quarter-finals two years later.
This season, Basel had to come through three qualifiers, seeing off Partizani Tirana, Újpest and then Hammarby in a penalty shootout.
They then cruised to top spot of Group H, amassing 14 points against Qarabağ, Omonia and Kairat; some long trips in there.
However, this’ll be a much sterner test than any of those, so will Marseille make home advantage count at Stade Vélodrome?
Olympique Marseille team news
Midfielder Pape Gueye, who scored away to Qarabağ, was also booked in Baku so will miss this first leg due to suspension.
Bamba Dieng, Álvaro González, Boubacar Kamara, Dimitri Payet, Luan Peres would all miss the return meeting in Switzerland if shown a yellow card here.
Jorge Sampaoli does like to switch between a back three and four but, whatever the system, Arsenal loanee William Saliba is a key figure at the back.
Further back, club legend Steve Mandanda, who’s made 602 appearances for OM, is no longer the first-choice goalkeeper; that is Pau López.
Other key defensive components are centre-back Duje Ćaleta-Car and midfield duo Boubacar Kamara alongside Mattéo Guendouzi.
Further forward, the debate in France is about whether Dimitri Payet and Arkadiusz Milik can play together.
Despite this, both star players will start, flanked by two of Cédric Bakambu, Gerson or Konrad de la Fuente.
Cengiz Ünder missed the weekend’s game so it’s unknown if he’ll be back.
Basel team news
Guillermo Abascal is short of defenders right now with Andy Pelmard, Albian Hajdari, Raoul Petretta and Andrea Padula all sidelined.
No players are suspended but experienced defender Fabian Frei and Pajtim Kasami, once of Fulham, would be if booked.
Taulant Xhaka is the midfield general of this team, alongside club captain Valentin Stocker.
Up front, they have options, namely Fyodor Chalov, who scored on Sunday, or, alternatively, Sebastiano Esposito or Ádám Szalai.
Ligue 1 table:
Swiss Super League table:
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