After little break, the French Ligue 1 start again and in the opening match on Friday night Montpellier host leader Marseille.
Montpellier stand at the middle of the table and they are playing solid this season, but their recent form is not at the high level. In the last six matches in all competitions, they have managed to win only once.
For this match their first goalkeeper Jourdren (14/0 gk) is out, while an important defender Tiéné (14/2 d) left the club and joined the national football team of Ivory Coast for the upcoming African Cup of Nations.
Marseille finished the first part of the season at the first position and their main goal is to win the title. Their main rival for the title, PSG, have only two points less, so Marseille have to play very good in the second part of the season in order to keep the first position.
The main strengths of Marseille is their home performance where they dominate, but away from home they are not at the high level, especially in the last few games when they lost three times in four away matches. True, they played against very good teams, Lyon, Monaco and PSG, but if they want to win the title they have to make good results away from Vélodrome.
Marseille will be without Alessandrini (13/1 m) and Barrada (9/1 m), while Nkoulou (17/2 d) and A. Ayew (15/3 f) are both unavailable due their participation at the African Cup of Nations.
Despite that fact they are still favorite to win this match, but I’ll cover this betting tip with an Asian handicap.
Montpellier vs Marseille Betting Tip: Marseille +0 Ah @ 1.50 (Bet365)