Olympique Marseille vs Salzburg – UEFA Europa League – Preview

Posted on April 27, 2018 by Sreya

Olympique Marseille vs Salzburg – Olympique Marseille hosts Salzburg at the Stade Velodrome on 26th April, Thursday in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League semi-finals.

Olympique Marseille have already seen off Sporting Braga, Athletic Club Bilbao and RB Leipzig in the earlier knockout rounds and are definitely the favorites on paper today.

Salzburg, meanwhile, have been one of the surprises in Europe this season, defeating the likes of Real Sociedad, Borussia Dortmund and Lazio to set up a date with Marseille.

Marseille are placed fourth in the Ligue 1 standings while the Austrian club are set to win their nation’s league by an excellent margin.

Team News

Steve Mandanda and Boubacar Kamara miss out for Marseille while Hiroki Sakai is listed as a doubt. The visitors do not have any injury or suspension concerns.

Marseille Possible Starting Lineup: Yohann Pele, Bouna Sarr, Adil Rami, Rolando, Jordan Amavi, Maxime Lopez, Luiz Gustavo, Florian Thauvin, Dimitri Payet, Lucas Ocampos, Valere Germain.

Salzburg Possible Starting Lineup: Alexander Walke, Stefan Lainer, Andre Ramalho, Duje Caleta-Car, Andreas Ulmer, Amadou Haidara, Diadie Samassekou, Valon Berisha, Xaver Schlager, Munas Dabbur, Hwang Hee-Chan.

“Salzburg are a formidable opponent. They play the same style as Leipzig. It is a team of young players who are ready to fight for more than 90 minutes. They have been dominating their championship for two years. There is a lot of quality. Their group is complete and complement each other. To see them in the semi-finals is not a surprise.”

– Rolando, Olympique Marseille.

Contributor’s Pick

According to Olympique Marseille vs Salzburg H2H Stats, the two previous meetings between these two clubs, in the group stages of the Europa League earlier this season, resulted in a draw and a win for Salzburg.

Salzburg are undefeated in sixteen of their last seventeen UEFA Europa League matches, having scored at least twice in five of their previous six games in this competition and will be confident of their chances tonight.

A 2-1 win for Marseille is the most probable outcome tonight.