Marseille vs Brest

Connoisseurs of action-packed football will hope Marseille and Brest can both score in an eighth consecutive Ligue 1 H2H when they lock horns at the Stade Velodrome this weekend.

Despite a 2-1 home triumph over Reims in their opening 2023/24 Ligue 1 fixture, Marseille cannot be proud of their early life under new manager Marcelino. In addition to a heartbreaking Champions League qualifying playoff defeat to Greek side Panathinaikos, ‘Les Olympiens’ failed to take advantage of being a man up for over half an hour in a goal-glutted 2-2 draw at newly-promoted Metz last time out. Brest’s visit to the Stade Velodrome doesn’t bode well for Marseille’s bid to return to winning ways, considering they’ve lost back-to-back league H2Hs here via an identical 2-1 scoreline after winning three previous duels on the trot. But they can draw confidence from picking up four wins from their last five home league outings (L1), all of which came ‘to one.’

On the other hand, Brest pulled off a sensational comeback to beat last season’s runners-up Lens 3-2 on the opening weekend, battling back from a 2-0 deficit to get their new top-flight campaign off to a flyer. Scoring on either side of halftime helped ‘Les Pirates’ overcome newly-promoted Le Havre 2-1 on the road last weekend and start round three as one of only two Ligue 1 sides to boast a 100% win ratio. Eric Roy’s men have fared exceptionally well away from home in recent months, losing just once on their last seven league travels (W3, D3), not to mention back-to-back wins in the build-up to this trip. If you’re a fan of omens, the last time Brest won two consecutive away games in the top flight, they defeated none other than Marseille on their following travel.