Ligue 1 | Gameweek 26

Mar 16, 2025 at 7.45pm UK

Parc des Princes

PSG vs Marseille

Match preview

Fresh from defeating Liverpool on penalties to reach the Champions League quarter-finals last week, PSG return to league action in search of a seventh successive league title and 21st overall to extend their lead at the top of the standings.

Enrique's side enter the 26th round with a 16-point lead and nine games remaining in their quest for another Ligue 1 crown.

Unbeaten at home this season, only Nantes and Lyon have prevented Les Rouge-et-Bleu from taking maximum points from 12 top-flight games at the Parc des Princes this term, with Toulouse the last visitors to stun the Parisians.

Since that defeat in May 2024, the French giants have gone 27 games unbeaten in the competition, winning 22 and dropping points only in 1-1 draws against Reims (twice), Nice, Nantes and Auxerre.

Having won six league games in a row, scoring three or more goals in five matches against Brest (5-2), Monaco (4-1), Lyon (3-2), Lille (4-1) and Rennes (4-1), the signs are ominous for Roberto De Zerbi's side, who lost the reverse fixture 3-0 and have now lost two of their last three.

Les Olympiens go into Sunday's Le Classique on a four-game losing streak in this fixture since their Coupe de France success in February 2023.

Since that 2-1 last-16 triumph, Marseille have been far from convincing in this rivalry, conceding 12 goals in their last four games, conceding three or more in three of them and losing 2-0 in another.

Despite sitting in second place behind their unbeaten opponents, De Zerbi's men have little chance of realistically catching the league leaders, who they trail by 16 points in the final nine rounds, so winning the battle for second place is the Italian coach's main objective.

Marseille began the round on 49 points, three clear of third-placed Nice and five ahead of Monaco and Lille, and could have slipped to third ahead of this weekend's trip to Paris if the Eaglets can secure a four-goal victory over 11th-placed Auxerre on Friday.

Adding to Les Olympiens' worries is the fact that they have lost two of their last three away games - they were held to a goalless draw at Nice (2-0) and Auxerre (3-0), before winning 2-0 at Angers - and those two setbacks are already more than the boys from Marseille had suffered in their previous 10 away games (one reverse).

Although they have won nine of their last 12 away from home and have six fewer away points (27) than PSG (33), recent frustrations and previous meetings with the Parisians suggest another disappointing campaign for De Zerbi's men.

Recent Performance

Paris Saint-Germain Ligue 1 form:WWWWWW

Paris Saint-Germain form (all competitions):WWWLWW

Marseille Ligue 1 form:WWWLWL

Team News

Although PSG have no missing players after passing the Liverpool test without incident, Marquinhos will be assessed ahead of Marseille's visit to Paris.

While Ousmane Dembele's Ligue 1 tally of 20 goals has been surpassed only by Bradley Barcola's 13, the latter has scored one more match-winning goal to Dembele's four.

It is worth noting that Dembele has scored the most home goals in Ligue 1 this season with 10, four more than Barcola's six and Kang-in Lee's three.

The away side will be relying on Mason Greenwood to provide the finishing touch, with the 15-goal striker's four game-winners trailing only Brest's Ludovic Ajorque, Strasbourg's Emanuel Emegha and Barcola (five).

Greenwood, who has scored eight away goals this term, has accounted for 28.8% of Marseille's 52 Ligue 1 strikes this term, fourth behind Jonathan David with 14 (35% of Lille's 40), Arnaud Kalimuendo with 11 (31.4% of Rennes' 35) and winger Keito Nakamura with eight (30.8% of Reims' 26).

De Zerbi will be without Amine Harit (calf), Faris Moumbagna (knee), Michael Murillo (hamstring), Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (calf) and Ruben Blanco (knee) for Sunday's visit to Paris.

Possible starting lineup

Paris Saint-Germain possible starting lineup:

Donnarumma; Hakimi, Beraldo, Pacho, Hernandez; Neves, Vitinha, Ruiz; Dembele, Ramos, Barcola

Marseille possible starting lineup:

Rulli; Cornelius, Balerdi, Kondogbia; Henrique, Bennacer, Rongier, Merlin; Greenwood, Rabiot; Gouiri