Olympique Marseille vs Angers Prediction: No problems for Marseille here

An intriguing match-up develops as a top-three aspirant goes up against a team seeing themselves deep in the quicksand of relegation: Olympique Marseille vs Angers SCO. Marseille is comfortable in 3rd place, looking to get back on their feet from their narrow defeat to Strasbourg, while Angers lies in 18th position, still fighting for that first win of the season. This is a very important match for the two teams: Marseille are seeking to make sure of their position in the Champions League race, while Angers want to move themselves out of the relegation zone. History and current form will heavily favor the home side going into the tie, but then again, football often springs up surprises.

Olympique Marseille welcomes Angers into an intriguing Ligue 1 encounter as both teams head into the game with contrasting objectives. Marseille, currently 3rd in the standings, seeks to consolidate their top-three position and apply pressure to the teams above them. They are in decent form, having come out with 4 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss in their last 6 league matches, although their most recent outing ended in a 1-0 away defeat to Strasbourg.

Under Roberto De Zerbi's tutorship, Marseille have been accustomed to a possession-based and highly pressurizing style. With 59% possession against their last game, the team is known to control the tempo of the game in midfield and build their game with much patience therein. The 4-2-3-1 formation would grant Marseille the ability to boss the middle of the park, with two holding midfielders providing cover while three attacking midfielders plus the lone striker push high up the pitch. The full-backs do push further forward to provide width, while the side is built on much high-energy pressing to win back the ball as soon as possible. However, that lack of creativity-how a side managed to dominate possession in a game yet created only one big chance-will need to be improved upon by the side.

Marseille have shown some relative consistency with 3 wins in the last 5, though a recent defeat to Strasbourg showed them to be somewhat vulnerable. However, home form has been very good-mostly they score the first goal and dominate the early stages of the game.

Home form is a big weapon for Marseille. In 8 of their last 10 games, they managed to open the scoring, performing impressively in front of their home crowd.

While Angers are mired in trouble, lying 18th in the table without a win in the league this season. They have managed just 2 draws in their last 6 games, and the most recent outing was a 3-1 home defeat to Reims. Defensively and offensively struggling, Angers desperately need points to prevent further sinking into the relegation zone. A winless run stretching to 10 games suggests that they desperately need to get back on track.

Alexandre Dujeux's Angers also line up in the shape of 4-2-3-1, but they are more circumspect about it, especially given their form this season. They cannot maintain control of the games, even though they enjoyed 53% possession against Reims. They often find themselves unable to press high and sitting deep to soak pressure - an invitation to trouble in the case of counterattacks. At the back, they have been porous, conceding 11 goals in their last 5 matches. Offensively, Angers have struggled to fashion clear-cut opportunities, with only two big chances created in their last outing against Reims. Their high defensive tackle success rate-71% in all Would suggest that they are often forced into defending, but their winless run is testament to their lack of cutting edge in attack.

Angers come into this game winless in the last 10, having struggled to keep clean sheets - they have conceded in all of the last 7 games. It thus sets the tone for this match: Marseille's attacking ability contrasting with Angers' frailties in defence means that Marseille is most likely to control possession and try to assert pressure.

Angers have been poor on the road, with no wins to show in their recent outings. Further, their struggle to defend away from home points out difficulties for Angers in this fixture.

Angers, fighting for survival, may show some resilience, with the pressure of a relegation battle maybe bringing out the best in some teams, whereas for others, it can paralyze them.

Marseille have always enjoyed the better of Angers in their recent meetings, and over the last 16 meetings between them, Marseille won 7 times, Angers won 2 times, and 7 ended in draws.

Recent form strongly favors Marseille, unbeaten in the last 5 against Angers. Importantly, Marseille won 3 consecutive matches against Angers, including at home, beating visitors 3-1 in May 2023 in their most recent encounter. This is indicative of Marseille's dominance over Angers, both at home and away.

Over 2.5 goals has been seen in five of the last six matchups, suggesting high-scoring games when the two sides meet.

Less than 4.5 cards in 4 of the last 5 meetings indicate that their matches are not as aggressive.

They have also combined for under 10.5 corners in 10 consecutive meetings, which further gives reason to the idea that there aren't as many set-piece opportunities in these games.

This should mean that a home win for Marseille is quite probable given Marseille are in finer form, have home advantage, and Angers do struggle to defend. With Angers failures away from home and with the inability to hold strong opposition, they will more than likely lose once again.

Still, despite Marseille's dominance, Angers have managed to score in 4 of their last 5 matches, which at least shows some offensive potential. Still, Marseille's solidity in defense and the weak offense of Angers would suggest a BTTS – No as more likely.

Of the last 10 matches, over 2.5 goals have been scored in eight of Marseille's matches, while Angers have conceded a lot. These streaks are common for both teams, so a safe Over 2.5 goals bet is justified here.

• Home Win + Over 2.5 Goals @ 1.666 Odds
• GG (No) @ 1.71 Odds
• Correct Score 3-0 @ 7.50 Odds