Marseille will welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to the Stade Velodrome in France for their second Europa League group-stage game on Thursday night.
The two sides failed to claim maximum points in their opening Group B games two weeks ago, with the Premier League team losing their first-ever European match at home to AEK Athens, while Les Olympiens played out a thrilling six-goal draw with Ajax.
A day after the departure of head coach Marcelino and Jacques Abardonado was placed in interim charge for Marseille’s opening Europa League clash with Ajax, the French outfit came from behind twice to rescue a point in an entertaining 3-3 draw in the Netherlands, largely thanks to a brace from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
That draw was the third in a row for Les Olympiens, who have since suffered back-to-back Ligue 1 defeats, with a heavy 4-0 loss at Paris Saint-Germain followed by a 3-2 defeat against early league leaders Monaco last weekend – Gennaro Gattuso’s first game in charge since his appointment as manager a week ago.
Marseille, who have now won just one of their last seven games in all competitions, currently sit 12th in the Ligue 1 table and although they are only four points adrift of the top three, Gattuso has a tough task on his hands to turn the club’s fortunes around and win over the club’s supporters.
Marseille’s record against English opposition also leaves a little to be desired as they have come out on top in only one of their previous 15 competitive meetings with Premier League teams, but the recent drop-off in Brighton’s form provides them with an element of optimism heading into this Thursday’s clash.
Brighton were flying high on the domestic front before they began their first-ever Europa League campaign, winning four of their opening five Premier League games, but they were brought back down the earth when they suffered a 3-2 home defeat to AEK Athens two weeks ago.
Joao Pedro’s restored parity twice for the Seagulls from the penalty spot, but their Greek counterparts had the last laugh as Ezequiel Ponce netted an 84th-minute winner to snatch all three points on the South Coast.