The Phocaeans’ last four wins in that run all saw them produce multiple goals, contributing to them netting 34 league strikes this season – only Paris Saint-Germain have netted more coming into the round.
Troyes
It was a significant personal moment for newly-appointed Troyes manager Patrick Kisnorbo as he guided his team to a 3-2 win at Strasbourg in his side’s last Ligue 1 outing, becoming the first Australian manager to win a game in one of Europe’s ‘Big Five’ leagues. On the win, he proudly said: “We still have a lot of work to do, but the players were good today.” Kisnorbo’s four points from two league matches in charge has moved his team five points clear of the drop zone, although the shine was taken off his start by a 2-0 Coupe de France defeat in Lille this past weekend.
Troyes will now welcome a Marseille team they’ve failed to beat in any of the last seven H2H meetings, and with the last contest here finishing level (1-1), some may back a repeat based on the hosts’ remarkable current run of six successive home league draws.
Marseille
Marseille will arrive full of confidence after winning each of their previous five competitive outings, the most recent a 2-0 success against fourth-tier side Hyères FC. The Phocaeans’ last four wins in that run all saw them produce multiple goals, contributing to them netting 34 league strikes this season – only Paris Saint-Germain have netted more coming into the round. Last season’s runners-up are four points better off than they were at this stage in each of the last two campaigns. However, they still start the round in third and eight points adrift of leaders PSG. Manager Igor Tudor will therefore want to remind his side that they can’t afford any more slip-ups, especially after dropping crucial points in two of their five away games against teams currently inside the bottom eight.
Troyes midfielder Florian Tardieu has picked up a yellow card in each of his four H2H competitive meetings. He might need to be wary of Marseille’s Alexis Sanchez, whose strike in Saturday’s cup win was his fifth successive competitive goal to have arrived in the first half. Marseille are yet to concede a goal in the opening 30 minutes of any away Ligue 1 game.