Ligue 1 Preview: Saint-Etienne – Olympique de Marseille

Les Verts will hope that sacking head coach Alain Perrin can drive them away from the drop zone. OM, meanwhile, continue their pursuit of Bordeaux…

Dec 18, 2009 10:00:54 AM

More On :  AS Saint-Etienne, Olympique de Marseille, AS Saint-Etienne vs Olympique de Marseille
Lucho Gonzalez vs Marcelo (Marseille VS Real Madrid)
Kick-Off: Saturday, December 19, 2009. 21:00 CET
Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Etienne

New Era

It’s been all change for Saint-Etienne this week. Les Verts deemed less than 18 months of Alain Perrin to be too much and fired the former Portsmouth and Olympique Lyonnais coach after last weekend’s 3-0 surrender away to Paris Saint-Germain.
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The tepidness of Sainte’s performance in Paris was difficult to fathom. Coming under heavy early pressure, the Loire side simply disintegrated, going 2-0 down within 15 minutes against relatively average opponents. A nightmare first half would be summed up six minutes before the break, when a free kick picked out an entirely unmarked Mevlut Erding – the home side’s most potent threat in the air – to head a third goal for PSG.

Performances as timid as last weekend’s have been all too common this season from the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard club, who will go into the weekend’s encounter against Marseille will little sense of optimism.

Changes at the Forez-based club in the last week have not been entirely wholesale, though. Rumour suggests that Jean Fernandez is being primed to take over Sainte, but Christophe Galtier, Perrin’s assistant and ironically a former Marseille player, will be in charge for this weekend’s fixture against les Phoceens.

He has a great deal of work to do with the players over Christmas; they looked light-years away from the level they should be at last week in Paris. Indeed, with Le Mans’ recent success, les Verts have tumbled into the drop zone, where they may well spend the holiday period.

Aiming For Consistency

An uncertain autumn seems to have given way to a winning winter for Olympique de Marseille, who seem to be the club most capable of competing with Girondins de Bordeaux for the French crown. Currently six points off the pace of the leaders, OM have a very winnable game in hand against Sochaux to be played early next year and are picking up a head of steam as they head into the winter break.

Didier Deschamps has steered his team to three wins in their last four matches, with their only defeat coming against Real Madrid in the Champions League. Consistency has previously been l’OM’s big issue this season and such encouraging form at this stage can only bode well.

Saturday’s trip to Saint-Etienne is also the kind of match that champions look to win. Les Verts may have that supposed advantage of having sacked an under-performing coach, but OM’s players are, man for man, simply better than those the hosts possess.

Marseille were handed a similar test in midweek, when they faced Lorient on the road. Previously unbeaten at their home venue this term, les Merlus grabbed the lead through a Marama Vahirua penalty. OM battled back well, with youngster Jordan Ayew taking only five minutes on the field to score his first goal for the club and Souleymane Diawara converting the winning goal deep into stoppage time.

Such resilience wins titles, but whereas Bordeaux have shown such fortitude on several occasions, Wednesday’s match was something of a novelty for les Phoceens. Wins against Saint-Etienne on Saturday and Auxerre in midweek may get critics to sit up and take a little more notice.

FORM GUIDE

Saint-Etienne

LOST 3-0 (a) Paris Saint-Germain (Ligue 1, December 13)

LOST 4-0 (a) Lille (Ligue 1, December 10)

DREW 0-0 (h) Sochaux (Ligue 1, December 5)

DREW 1-1 (a) Le Mans (Ligue 1, November 29)

LOST 2-0 (h) Lorient (Ligue 1, November 22)

Marseille

WON 2-1 (a) Lorient (Ligue 1, December 16)

WON 2-0 (h) Boulogne-Sur-Mer (Ligue 1, December 12)

LOST 3-1 (h) Real Madrid (Champions League, December 8)

WON 3-1 (a) Nice (Ligue 1, December 5)

LOST 1-0 (a) Racing Club de Lens (Ligue 1, November 28)

TEAM NEWS

Saint-Etienne

Selection problems continue to dog the Loire club. Definitely missing is centre-back Moustapha Bayal-Sall, who has a broken bone in his foot and will be sidelined until well into the new year. Fellow defenders Loic Perrin, Yohan Andreu and Sylvain Monsoreau are all injured too.

Augusto Fernandez and Boubacar Sanogo, two key summer additions, will not feature in this game due to physical complaints.

Probable Starting XI: Janot; Varrault, Benalouane, N’Daw, Dabo; Fernandes, Matuidi, Landrin; Sako, Bergessio, Payet

Marseille

There is mixed news on the availability front for les Phoceens, who will once again be without influential forward Mamadou Niang. The Senegalese is targeting a mid-January return. Centre-back Julien Rodriguez has a long-standing problem.

On the flip side, Brandao comes back into contention and will replace the disappointing Fernando Morientes as the spearhead of OM’s attack.

Probable Starting XI: Mandanda; Bonnart, Diawara, Heinze, Taiwo; Abriel, Mbia, Lucho, Cheyrou; Kone, Brandao

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Saint-Etienne

When Gonzalo Bergessio first arrived at the club at the end of the summer transfer window, it seemed that he was going to be an absolute star, scoring regularly in his opening games for the Loire outfit. But the side’s general lack of confidence seemed to get even to him and the Argentine will now be looking for a new lease of life under the new regime. He is a potential match-winner.

Marseille

Record signing Lucho Gonzalez made little impact in the early weeks of the campaign as he was dogged by injury. For a spell it seemed he might struggle to find his form in Ligue 1 but since the middle of November the Argentine international has had his foot firmly pressed on the accelerator pedal and now looks something approaching an €18 million player. With Mamadou Niang missing, Lucho is starting to play a pivotal role in the team.

PREDICTION

Sainte may be in a less healthy league position than they were this time last week but their chances of winning the game have actually gone up due to the sacking of Perrin. Nevertheless, Marseille boast one of the most impressive sides in France at present, and if they want to catch Bordeaux then they absolutely must win on Saturday night. Don’t expect a romp, but do expect OM to cash another three points.

Saint-Etienne 1-3 Olympique de Marseille

Robin Bairner, Goal.com
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