Marseille vs Angers Prediction: A win for the home side

When already-relegated Angers visit Stade Orange Velodrome on Sunday night in Ligue 1, Marseille will be trying to maintain their top-two dreams. In their most recent match, Les Olympiens fell to Lens in a crucial contest, while Angers lost to Monaco at home for the fourth time in a row.

After 34 games, the visitors have just 14 points, while Nantes, who are in 17th position, have 32 points. This means that they will be demoted to Ligue 2 at the conclusion of the season. Following a home loss to Monaco last Sunday, Angers has dropped four straight games.

As they suffered an away loss to Lens last week, the hosts' eight-game undefeated streak came to an end. Because of the loss, they allowed Lens to take over the second position in the standings. Dimitri Payet scored a consolation goal in the 88th minute after they went two goals behind in the game's first 60 minutes. If they want to guarantee themselves a berth in the UEFA Champions League group stage for the next season, they must not lose any points in their remaining games of the current campaign.

After losing to Lens at Stade Bollaert-Delelis last weekend, Marseille's eight-game undefeated streak came to an unwelcome end, allowing Franck Haise's team to overtake them and move into second place. Despite a late strike from Dimitri Payet, the visitors were unable to avoid their first loss since late February as goals from Seko Fofana and Lois Openda gave the hosts a dominating lead after 60 minutes.

The team led by Igor Tudor is now third in Ligue 1 with four games remaining, eight points behind league-leading Paris Saint-Germain and two points behind Les Sang et Or. This season has settled into life in the south of France. The 34-year-old Chilean has scored 13 league goals so far, which is his most since his time at the Emirates in 2016–17.

Amine Harit sustained a season-ending cruciate ligament injury back in November, keeping him out of the World Cup, and Marseille has suffered without his presence for the duration of this season. Before fracturing his toe for Les Olympiens in March, Azzedine Ounahi had the opportunity to shine in Qatar on the grandest platform. The 23-year-old will not play again this season.

Lopez, Mbemba, Balerdi, Kolasinac; Clauss, Rongier, Veretout, Tavares; Under, Malinovskyi, and Sanchez are probable the starters for Marseille.

After a poor Ligue 1 campaign, Angers' eight-year reign at the top of French football is coming to an end. Their loss to Rennes at the end of April sealed their fate in Ligue 2, ending their eight-year reign. Two goals from Monaco at Stade Raymond-Kopa made Abdallah Sima's goal only able to serve as a consolation. The Black and Whites were unable to prevent another defeat in that match.

Since taking over in the middle of March, Alexandre Dujeux has been unable to get his team out of the bottom half of the Ligue 1 rankings. 

With strikers Amine Salama and Lois Diony both unlikely to play again this season due to groin and cruciate ligament injuries, respectively, Angers' medical room is one of the busiest in the division. Cedric Hountondji is banned for the Sunday night trip to Marseille.

Possible starting lineup for Angers includes Bernardoni, Thioub, Valery, Sabanovic, Bamba, Kalumba, Abdelli, Mendy, and Bentaleb, as well as Bahoya and Niane.

Since the start of Ligue 1 following the FIFA World Cup, Marseille has amassed 40 points, more than any other team in the league. The team will want to make it three straight victories at home, where they have won their past two games.

All that's left to play for this season for Angers is pride, and they just might manage to pull off an unexpected victory. They've lost their past five away games, though, and haven't claimed a victory at the site of Sunday's encounter since 2015.

The hosts are anticipated to win given the recent records. The scoreline of 4-1, 4-0, or 3-1 is anticipated.