Ajaccio vs Marseille Preview
The Match Ajaccio vs Marseille Preview, as they meet on Ligue 1 premises, Ajaccio hosts Marseille on saturday with Stade Francois Coty.
As Marseille will have the chance to qualify for the champions league next season, While Ajaccio will be playing in the Second tier football.
The club are going down with a whimper, with results only getting worse since their relegation was confirmed. Ajaccio have two recent 5-0 defeats to Paris Saint Germain and Rennes shows their poor performance. With red cards in both games taking to a league-high 10 for the season.
That result means that regardless of the score here, both Ajaccio and Troyes will end the season with the lowest-ever points total without finishing bottom in the French top flight during the three-points-per-win era.
Their 37 league games have yielded just 23 points so far, but three of those came in the reverse fixture at Marseille in a shock win earlier this season.
The likelihood of them repeating the feat on home soil is slim though, considering that Olivier Pantaloni‘s side have failed to score in 13 of their 18 games here at the Stade Francois Coty.
With just nine goals scored at home all season, Ajaccio could set another unwanted French top-flight record if they fail to score again, as they would become the first club ever to blank in 14 home games in a single season.
Despite their position in third, Marseille have ended the season very poorly, losing three of their last four games, including against Lens, who OM have gifted second place to.
Team News and Injury
Ajaccio will be without Yanis Cimignani and Congolese international Fernand Mayembo for the visit of Marseille in this season finale. Youcef Belaili’s injury problems continue, as the Algerian has played just 61 minutes since March’s international break and remains absent.
Veteran Romain Hamouma has also struggled with an injury-hit season in his first season at the club, starting just six matches in 2023. Mickael Alphonse is still banned, but Thomas Mangani is available for selection again after the two were sent off during their 5-0 defeats to Rennes and PSG respectively. By the PSG leads in the Ligue 1 table, the PSG club forward star Lionel Messi leaves the club by the end of the season and joins Saudi Arabia club.
Sead Kolasinac and Alexis Sanchez could both play their final games for Marseille here, with the duo out of contract in the summer. There are doubts over Dimitri Payet’s future too, and with the former French international currently suspended, he may already have played his last game with OM.
Moroccan pair Azzedine Ounahi and Amine Harit remain out with the injuries that ended their seasons earlier in the campaign. Pedro Ruiz will be sidelined and could be joined on the absentee list by Samuel Gigot, who is still recovering from a knock.
Ajaccio vs Marseille Head-to-Head stats
Ajaccio’s last game with Marseille was one of their rare successes this season. They defeated the high-flying team 1-2 at the Stade Velodrome in October. This was their first win over Marseille since March 2012.
Ajaccio have struggled for goals all season, and their current total of 22 makes them Ligue 1’s lowest-scoring side in 2022-23. Given that the next-lowest scorers Angers have scored 33, it’s unlikely that they’ll rid themselves of this unfortunate tag on Saturday.
Despite qualifying for next season’s Champions League, Marseille have not been in good form in recent weeks. They have actually lost three of their last four games, and most recently fell to strugglers Brest in a shocking game at home.
Ajaccio’s recent form has been appalling. Since beating Troyes on February 26, they have collected just two points from their next 12 games.
Marseille wing-back Jonathan Clauss has registered 11 assists this season, putting him level with Neymar Jr and behind only Lionel Messi in Ligue 1 overall.
Ajaccio vs Marseille Prediction
As with the recent form may not be to be good, Marseille had a excellent chance to end their campaign. Ajaccio form has been good in the season, but they will struggle in the match against Marseille.
