Olympique de Marseille vs Stade Reims Prediction: Reims are better prepared for the new season

Stade de Reims will begin their 23/24 campaign with a trip to the Orange Vélodrome to face Olympique Marseille. Both clubs can put the preseason behind them as the battle for match points begins. Marseille are coming off a 1-0 loss to Panathinaikos in the UEFA Champions League Qualification match Round 3, while Reims ended their preseason run with a 2-1 win over Torino last week.

Marseille finished the 22/23 season in 3rd place with 73 points from 38 matches, as they had 22 wins, 7 draws and 9 defeats. Marseille forward Alexis Sanchez bagged 14 goals last season, while Jonathan Clauss registered 9 assists.

Stade Reims finished the 22/23 season in 11th spot with 51 points from 38 games. They had 12 wins, 15 draws and 11 defeats in total last season. Folarin Balogun ended the season with 21 goals, while Alexis Flips registered 6 assists.

Olympique de Marseille will be hoping to put their disastrous results behind them as the new season begins. They had a poor preseason, losing 2 and winning 2 from 4 preseason games. They beat Nimes 2-0 and lost 1-0 to Eupen. Then they won Waalwijk 1-0 before losing 2-1 to Leverkusen.

Marseille also lost their UEFA Qualification match against Panathinaikos by a single goal. Geoffrey Kondogbia was sent off in the 65th minute for a foul, forcing Marseille to play with 10 men. And in the 83rd minute Bernard put Panathinaikos ahead and it was enough to give the hosts the lead. Marseille were second best in the match according to statistics. They managed only 33% possession, 1 shot on target and 1 corner kick.

Olympique Marseille will be hoping they can get back to their best with the latest additions to the team. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang joined the club from Chelsea on a free transfer, while Ilman Ndiaye came in from Sheffield United for €17m. The club also lost Dimitri Payet for free and hopefully they can fill the void in the team in the coming season.

Team streak: Less than 2.5 goals (5/6), first to concede (5/7), less than 4.5 cards (6/7), less than 10.5 corners (6/7).

Reims have all the signs that they are prepared for the new season after an excellent preseason. Stade de Reims played 6 matches in preseason and they won 5 of those matches, losing 1. They lost 3-2 against Eupen FC and then went on a 5 match win streak against Charleroi (3-1), Amiens (3-2), Getafe (1-0), Zaragoza (2-1) and Torino (2-1).

In their final preseason game against Torino, Perr Schuurs gave Torino the lead in the 51st minute and in the 68th minute Alexis Flips drew Stade de Reims level. Then in the 89th minute Mamadou Diakhon scored the winning goal to seal a 2-1 win for Reims.

Stade de Reims completed the transfer of Japan 23 year old midfielder Keito Nakamura from LASK Linz for €12m a few days ago and it will be interesting to see how the new addition improves the team's style of play. Dion Lopy was among the few names of players that left the club after he completed his €8m move to Almeria.

Team streak: wins (5), more than 2.5 goals (9/10), both teams scoring (6/7), less than 4.5 cards (8/9).

Olympique Marseille and Stade Reims have played 18 matches against each other in the past. Olympique Marseille won 8 matches, while Stade Reims won 4 and 6 matches ended in a draw.

• Marseille won the last 3 meetings.
• Marseille had no losses in the last 6 meetings.
• Reims are without a clean sheet in the last 6 meetings.
• Both teams scored in 5/6 meetings.
• Reims scored first in 6/8 meetings.
• There were less than 4.5 cards in 8/10 meetings.
• There were less than 10.5 corners in 5/7 meetings.

The opening game of the season is always a difficult game to predict. But we can see how prepared both sides have been during the offseason. Reims have had the better experience during preseason, while Marseille are coming off a loss in the first leg of the Champions League Qualification match. Both sides will like to get a win here but it's going to be tight as there’s nothing much to separate both sides tactically.

• Away Handicap (1) at 1.72 Odds
• Away Win or Draw at 2.15 Odds
• Away or Under 2.5 Goals at 1.70 Odds