UEL: Marseille vs Brighton Preview, Odds
Group of Death Matchup
Both Sides Going for First Win
Marseille’s last few weeks have been marred by internal issues as former coach Marcelino departed after just seven games. Since then, Marseille has been 0-1-2 and fell previous weekend in Ligue 1. OM have another challenging game on Thursday as they host Brighton & Hove Albion in the Europa League. Brighton suffered a 6-1 loss at the weekend and should be motivated to bounce back as they go for their first-ever Europa League win. With both teams looking to get back on track, we’ll look at the latest odds in our Marseille vs Brighton preview.
Marseille vs Brighton
Date & Time:
Location: Stade de Velodrome, Marseille, France
Head-to-Head:
Our Marseille vs Brighton preview notes that these teams have never met in UEFA-sponsored competitions before. So, there’s no head-to-head history to inform betting decisions. However, Marseille hasn’t won any of their last ten matches vs. English teams, with a 0-2-8 record during that time.
Gattuso Appointed Marseille Manager
After Marcelino’s departure, Marseille announced that World Cup-winning midfielder and former Napoli and Valencia boss Gennaro Gattuso would be their new head coach. His debut ended in defeat as Marseille fell 3-2 at Monaco on Saturday. OM took the lead within a minute as Iliman Ndiaye scored his first Ligue 1 goal for the club.
However, Marseille conceded just seven minutes later. Once again, Marseille would take the lead and give it up as Ndiaye found Samuel Gigot in the 18th minute, and Monaco’s Folarin Balogun responded. Maghnes Akliouche scored his second goal of the match to sink Marseille in the second half. Marseille are now winless in their last five games heading into Thursday’s Europa League contest.
In their first UEL match, Marseille and Ajax managed one of the highest Europa League scores in recent memory. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice for OM in the 3-3 draw and is currently joint-goals leader in the Europa League stats. Although they’ve struggled recently, Marseille are unbeaten at home this season. Gattuso can endear himself to the home fans if he’s able to pick up a win at the Stade Velodrome on Thursday. He likely won’t be able to select defender Renan Lodi and midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia for this one.
Brighton Suffer Heavy Defeat
After an excellent start to the season, Roberto de Zerbi’s Brighton has hit some roadblocks in the last few weeks. The Seagulls fell 6-1 at Aston Villa on Saturday and simply couldn’t get anything going. Ollie Watkins scored a hat trick vs. Brighton, who have now lost three of their last four matches, in all competitions. The Seagulls also lost 1-0 last Wednesday at Chelsea in the EFL Cup.
At 5-2, Brighton are still in a solid position in the Premier League. However, they also lost 3-2 in their Europa League debut a couple of weeks back at home to AEK Athens. Our Marseille vs Brighton preview notes that the Seagulls have already won over the likes of Newcastle United and Manchester United Newcastle United and Manchester United already this season. They’ll want to avoid a third consecutive defeat when they head to France on Thursday.
Brighton has a bunch of attacking talent, including teenage striker Evan Ferguson, Joao Pedro, Ansu Fati, Kaoru Mitoma, and Solly March. Pedro scored twice in Brighton’s Europa League opener and could get another chance here. Defense has been the biggest concern for Brighton as of late, as they’ve conceded over 2.5 goals per game in their last four. Julio Enciso, Pascal Gross, James Milner, and Jakub Moder are set to miss out due to injury.
Match Analysis & Odds
Despite playing at home, Marseille are +190 underdogs for Thursday’s match. There are a lot of moving parts with Marseille, given the coaching change and their poor form. Still, Brighton hasn’t played great over the last few weeks and has looked vulnerable. The Seagulls are +130 favorites here to get their first Europa League win, but it won’t necessarily be easy.
With a win, Marseille could potentially go on top of the Group B Europa League table, and Marseille PK shows +110 odds. Roberto de Zerbi will certainly be thinking about coming away from France with at least a point. Brighton pk sits at -140 odds for this one and the Seagulls haven’t lost three games in a row for well over a year.
A draw is priced at +260 odds, and OM has drawn four of their last seven matches, in all competitions. If nothing else, Gennaro Gattuso will demand effort from his players, and they shouldn’t be short on motivation for this one. In what could be a close match, both over and under three goals display -115 odds.
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