Marseille to condemn Galatasaray to further misery
Sampaoli the saviour
Jorge Sampaoli’s Marseille side are looking to claim their first win in this Europa League campaign when they play host to Turkish side Galatasaray on Thursday. The hosts struggled to a 1-1 draw with Lokomotiv Moscow last time out in the Europa League and will be aiming to take advantage of a Galatasaray side, notorious for struggling away from home soil in European competition. Their opening game was at home against Maurizio Sarri’s Lazio where the Turkish giants claimed a shock 1-0 win over Lazio. However, their league form has meant this result is the exception in a fairly sub-par start to the season that sees Galatasaray 10th in the Turkish Super Lig.
Galatasaray’s stricken squad
Marseille are coming off a 3-2 loss to RC Lens at the weekend in a thrilling tie which Les Olympiens were on the wrong side of. The good news is that Dimitri Payet is firing on all cylinders, grabbing a brace against Lens. But Sampaoli may well be in two minds as to whether to start the Frenchman on Thursday with Payet only recently returning from injury. Galatasaray, on the other hand, have far bigger worries on the injury table. Omar Elabdellaoui Sacha Boey, Baris Yilmaz and Arda Turan are all sidelined due to injuries, so the visitors will be somewhat shorthanded on Thursday. Compare this to the strength in depth that Sampaoli has at his disposal, and the hosts should be runaway winners here.
Domestic woes
The loss against Lens brought an 11-game home unbeaten run to an end, but they’ll be looking to start another impressive run-on Thursday against an inconsistent Galatasaray side. Before their win against Goztepe on Sunday, they lost 1-0 to Alanyaspor and a calamitous 3-0 Kayserispor in the league. They’ll have to be at their very best to stop an impressive Marseille side away from home.
Galatasaray have historically struggled away from Turkish soil in European competition, and I expect this trend to continue. With Marseille never needing to be asked twice about scoring at home, I’m going safe with a Marseille win with Parimatch.
Post bet chat Archie's Tips:
0-0 snooze-fest in this one