The squad featuring Alexis Sánchez aims to extend a winning run as it narrows the gap to league leaders PSG.
This Friday, the Orange Velodrome becomes the stage for a clash between Olympique de Marseille and Montpellier as they face off in Ligue 1 action beginning the 29th of the season.
Before the international break, the squad led by Croatian coach Igor Tudor rediscovered its momentum with a victory over Stade de Reims, inspired by a standout performance from Alexis Sánchez who delivered a brilliant double at the Auguste-Delaune II. The triumph kept Marseille firmly in second place in the French top flight with 59 points, seven behind Paris Saint-Germain, and with ten rounds remaining in the campaign.
Sánchez cemented his status as Marseille’s leading scorer this season, tallying twelve goals in 25 appearances. He sits ahead of Nuno Tavares, who has six goals, and stands as the top scorer for Marseille in their first Ligue 1 season since Bafétimbi Gomis in 2016-17, when Gomis found the back of the net 20 times in 31 matches. Sánchez even flirted with the record shared by Lionel Messi and Neymar, hovering around the club’s all-time top scorers list led by Kylian Mbappé and Jonathan David, each with 19 goals this season in the league.
Meanwhile, Michel Der Zakarian’s Montpellier sits on a different path, fresh from three straight victories, with their latest win a 2-1 away result at Clermont. Montpellier climbs to eleventh in the table after adding 36 points to their total, a small step forward in a season marked by consistency in spurts rather than sustained momentum.
Historically, the head-to-head record favors the Marseille outfit in recent meetings, though Montpellier has shown resilience in the most recent duels. In the last 20 encounters, Marseille has claimed 11 wins to Montpellier’s four, with five draws. The most recent meeting occurred on New Year’s Day, when Marseille edged Montpellier thanks to a goal from a Portuguese attacker and an own goal by Maxime Estève following a precise corner delivered from the far post by Cengiz Ünder. Teji Savanier converted a late penalty after a foul on Béni Makouana, adding drama to the scoreboard and underscoring the competitive tension between the teams.
Alexis Sánchez’s contributions for Marseille – all competitions
Olympique de Marseille:
Paul López; Jonathan Clauss, Chancel Mbemba, Samuel Gigot, Nuno Tavares; Mattéo Guendouzi, Valentin Rongier, Jordan Veretout; Cengiz Ünder, Ruslan Malinovskyi; Alexis Sánchez. DT: Igor Tudor.
Montpellier:
Benjamin Lecomte; Falaye Sacko, Christopher Julien, Boubacar Kouyaté, Issiaga Sylla; Khalil Fayad, Joris Chotard; Arnaud Nordin, Teji Savanier, Stephy Mavididi; Elye Wahi. DT: Michel Der Zakarian.
Officials:
To confirm the match official details.
Source: Goal