Olympique Marseille vs Auxerre Prediction: Olympique Marseille Aim to Maintain Form Against a Resurgent Auxerre

Olympique Marseille and Auxerre come into this intriguing contest with the sides coming into it with different ambitions and recent trends. Second-placed Marseille hopes to keep up the pace of the league leaders. They have established themselves this season, under the progressive-minded manager Roberto De Zerbi, as one of the most dangerous attacking and dominant teams in terms of possession. While Auxerre sit in 10th and have found some very good form of late, manager Christophe Pelissier's structured approach has brought a new dynamic into the team. Considering both clubs are coming into this match off recent improved performances, the test of endurance and precision is about to get quite tactical.

Keeping in mind the manner in which Marseille only managed to squeeze past Nantes 2-1 recently, one might note that Marseille indeed possesses qualities of dominating possession of the ball and fashioning good opportunities. Indeed, their recent form has been resilient and offensive-minded. De Zerbi's men will deploy in a 4-2-3-1 formation as they look to control midfield and, as such, feed their attacking unit in a bid to expose Auxerre's inconsistent away defense.

De Zerbi has set up Marseille in a 4-2-3-1 with high possession and quick transitions. The recent games have seen a solid backline backed up by two holding midfielders, not just to break up play but to progress the ball to an advanced midfield trio. This trio is key to creating goalscoring opportunities, often relying on quick exchanges and intelligent positioning to unlock defenses. Marseille's possession-based style relies on patience and precision in execution, with great emphasis on the shape of the defense even when committing numbers forward.

The forwards will look to press high for mistakes from Auxerre's defenders, while the midfield will be important in creating space and sliding through balls to exploit Auxerre's back three. Key areas for Marseille will be limiting the counter-attacks of Auxerre and finding breakthroughs on the wings, where Auxerre may be vulnerable.

Meanwhile, Auxerre have been on a fine run of late, further emphasized with a dominant 4-0 win over Rennes. Pelistri has set this team up to be very solid defensively in a 3-4-2-1, with much emphasis on counter-attacks. With three wins and a draw in the last five games, this is a side which has found rhythm, particularly in front of goal, and they will look to challenge Marseille's back four with direct play and set pieces.

Pelissier's 3-4-2-1 has given Auxerre a stable structure that offers flexibility in both ways, backward and forward. This setup will offer Auxerre the ability to clog the midfield with four players, with which it is tough for opponents to play through. The formation is good for a quick transition to the wings, where Auxerre can cash in on some counter-attacks-an approach they have actually used quite well against stronger opposition.

Defensively, Auxerre will try to absorb the pressure from Marseille by blocking passing lanes and minimizing space between their lines. This would, in turn, make Auxerre try to use a compact defensive structure as they would look forward to quick breakaways on running into space that Marseille would have left open through their high positioning. In such scenarios, both the forward and advanced midfielders will be key to this breakaway action once the turnover is achieved on Marseille.

Traditionally, Marseille have bossed this fixture, winning 12 in the last 20 against Auxerre, who managed to take only 3. Their most recent meeting ended with Marseille running out 2-1 winners in April 2023. Marseille have won the last four consecutive matches between themselves and Auxerre, underlining their superiority in this contest. Auxerre have been failing to contain the pace of Marseille, as in the last few matches, they have conceded eight goals, which shows their weakness in trying to stop the burly attack of Marseille.

Taking into consideration Marseille's home advantage, coupled with strong possession and tactical discipline under De Zerbi, the team will have a solid reason on which to base its game control. Indeed, the key to winning the game will be effectively breaking Auxerre's compact defense without allowing quick counter-attacks. A recent 2-1 victory over Nantes underlined Marseille's attacking weapon and the reliability of their rearguard, though one area which has been shown to be vulnerable in recent times is to fast breaks, something Auxerre will be looking to exploit.

Auxerre come into this tie confident from their comprehensive 4-0 win over Rennes, having a deep-defending and counter-attacking setup that works to perfection against a possession-based team like Marseille. Auxerre have been unbeaten in recent times, a run of eight straight matches where they have seen over 2.5 goals, which also means they have not been that bad in front of the goal either. But the disparity in class between these two sides, especially Marseille at home when able to exert control over the game, cants the balance towards the home team.

• Home Win/Draw & Over 2.5 Goals @ 1.71 Odds
• Multi Goals 2-4 @ 1.6 Odds
• Mason Greenwood to Score Anytime @ 2.00 Odds