In the match of the 18th round of the French championship, Marseille will play at home against Strasbourg. The Provençals are gradually consolidating in second place. They are seven points behind PSG, but ahead of Lille on four and Monaco on five. So they can pull away from their rivals in the fight for the title of the best among the rest by a solid distance. Strasbourg are involved in a tighter race. It sits in ninth place, one point ahead of Auxerre and Brest and one point behind Toulouse.

That said, Strasbourg has an excellent current streak. He has won five matches in a row, breaking his winless streak. In the week, Strasbourg defeated Taon in the French Cup in a penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw. And earlier in the championship defeated Toulouse (2:1) and Auxerre (3:1). And four of the five previous victories came just on away matches. And Marseille fell out of the French Cup this week, losing in a penalty shootout to Lille after a draw (1:1). So can fully concentrate on the championship. In the previous round, the Provençals defeated Rennes (2:1), and before that - Le Havre (5:1).

In Ligue 1 Marseille has not known defeat for six rounds. At the same time, lost points only once in this stretch, playing a draw with the same Lille (1:1). In other meetings Provençals won, so their form can be called excellent. If we talk only about Marseille's home games in the championship, then he lost twice, and in the last four meetings scored by himself and conceded invariably.

Note that in the first round Marseille lost away to Strasbourg (0:1). And in general, during the last five meetings between these rivals, the Provençals have not won.