Brighton & Hove Albion will travel to Marseille for their second game in the Europa League. The Seagulls lost their first-ever European encounter at home to AEK Athens two weeks ago. Les Olympiens drew an exciting six-goal match with Ajax. It failed to earn all three points in their initial Group B fixtures.
Preview (Marseille vs. Brighton & Hove Albion)
The French team came from behind twice to salvage a point in an exciting 3-3 draw in the Netherlands. It was largely thanks to a brace from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Les Olympiens’ third consecutive draw came after back-to-back Ligue 1 losses. It included a crushing 4-0 loss at Paris Saint-Germain and a 3-2 loss to early league leaders Monaco. This was Genaro Gattuso’s first game in charge since taking over as manager a week ago.
Even though Marseille is only four points behind the top three teams in Ligue 1, they have only won one of their past seven games overall. Gattuso faces a difficult challenge in trying to turn around the club’s fortunes and win over the fans. In each of their last six appearances in either the Champions League or Europa League, the French powerhouses have failed to advance past the group stage, and they have won just one of their last 16 Europa League group games. This trend has continued for the past ten years. In fact, Brighton had a strong domestic record before they started their first-ever Europa League campaign. They won four of their first five Premier League games. However, two weeks ago, a 3-2 home loss to AEK Athens brought them back to earth.
However, the Greek team had the last laugh as Ezequiel Ponce scored the game-winning goal in the 84th minute to secure all three points on the South Coast. Joao Pedro twice brought the Seagulls back into the game from the penalty spot. Since then, Brighton has won one and lost two of their last three games in all competitions. It includes consecutive road losses to Chelsea and Aston Villa. Last weekend, they suffered a crushing 6-1 loss to the latter in the Premier League. They conceded six goals in a single match for the first time in the top flight.
Team News
Geoffrey Kondogbia, a midfielder for Marseille, is still out with a groin injury. Former Sheffield United players Iliman Ndiaye and Ismaila Sarr, a former Watford winger, are both in the running to play on Thursday after making their injury comebacks. Gattuso will continue to use a 4-3-3 formation. Samuel Gigot and Chancel Mbemba are positioned on each side of fullbacks, Jonathan Clauss and Michael Murillo. Amine Harit will attempt to take Azzedine Ounahi’s place in the center of the field. With Ndiaye and Joaquin Correa slated to join the Gabon international in the front three, Aubameyang, who scored three goals against Brighton while playing for Arsenal, is anticipated to stay in the center of the attack.
For Brighton, Julio Enciso and Jakub Moder are still out for a while due to knee injuries, while Pascal Gross, James Milner, and Adam Lallana are all questionable and will be evaluated before the game. Igor Julio and Jan Paul van Hecke, who both played poorly defensively against Aston Villa, will be vying to start in place of Adam Webster at center defense, and Tariq Lamptey might take Joel Veltman’s spot at right back. Danny Welbeck and Evan Ferguson may lose their spots in the starting lineup to Pedro and Ansu Fati, while teenager Jack Hinshelwood may lose his spot in center-midfield to either Carlos Baleba or Mahmoud Dahoud, who scored his first goal for Brighton last weekend.
Marseille 2-2 Brighton & Hove Albion
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