Marseille vs Brest Preview
Seeking a fourth successive home win to keep their hopes of automatic Champions League qualification alive, Marseille welcome Brest to the Orange Velodrome for Saturday's Ligue 1 showdown.
Igor Tudor's side went down 2-1 to Lille last weekend, while their visitors assured themselves of a place in the top tier courtesy of a triumph over Clermont by the same scoreline.
With fellow Champions League-chasers Lens not in action until Sunday last week, Marseille were presented with a glorious opportunity to pile the pressure on Les Sang et Or when they visited Lille last Saturday, and a Jonathan Clauss strike propelled Les Olympiens into the ascendancy with 29 minutes gone.
However, Les Dogues have fortified the walls of the Stade Pierre-Mauroy this term, and Marseille's slender lead was quickly wiped out by a Jonathan David penalty and Jonathan Bamba header in the second half, inflicting a second consecutive away defeat on Tudor's men following their identical loss at Lens earlier this month.
Franck Haise's men capitalised on Marseille's slip-up by beating Lorient the next day, thereby building up a five-point lead over the third-placed Olympiens, whose hopes of a direct route into the Champions League group stages will be dashed with anything other than a win on Saturday.
Even if Tudor's side can prevail, they will be consigned to a third-placed finish and place in the Champions League qualifying rounds if Lens overcome already-relegated Ajaccio at home - a bitter disappointment for a side who gave champions-elect Paris Saint-Germain a good run for their money at one stage.