Ligue 1 Focus: Midfield Mastery on Display as Strasbourg Face Marseille | OneFootball

Ligue 1 sees a very intriguing game take place on Friday night as Liam Rosenior’s Strasbourg welcome Roberto De Zerbi’s Olympique de Marseille to the Stade de la Meinau.

Both sides have got off to a good start to the season, with Strasbourg sitting in 4th and Olympique de Marseille sitting in 6th and coming off the back of a gigantic win over Paris Saint-Germain in Le Classique.

Why will the atmosphere at the Stade de la Meinau be strange?

The atmosphere at the Stade de la Meinau will be quite strange on Friday night, with the Strasbourg ultras stating they will be silent for the 90 minutes. This is because the club has sanctioned supporter groups for their protests against the club ownership during the game against Le Havre, which included banners that read “BlueCo Out” and “No To Multi-club ownership.”

The following supporter groups – Ultra Boys 90, Kop Ciel & Blanc, Racing Supporters Federation and Pariser Section – have said that whilst they will be present at the game, they will remain silent throughout due to the club sanctions.

They will also look to display two different banners which will read “For an independent, popular and different Racing” and “Freedom of expression is a right, not a privilege”, which will be proposed to the RCSA censorship committee.

How do both teams like to play and how could things play out?

This game should be expected to be quite an intriguing battle, with both keen on playing with rhythm and intensity as well as having control over the possession.

Ever since coming to Strasbourg, Liam Rosenior has done a fantastic job with the French side, guiding them into European football and aiming to push on further this season. The way he likes to play is with possession where there is a clear attacking intent behind it. Movements of some players may be unorthodox but they also prove very effective. In his squad, he has multiple players who are flexible and versatile, which is important for how he wants to play. Having the ability to play in multiple different positions helps in a back three system where movement into different areas is crucial so that it makes it harder for opposition teams to man-mark across the pitch.

An example of this is Dilane Bakwa last season. What he was capable of was not only pulling all the way out wide onto the touchline to stretch the game like a winger, but he was also capable of coming inside and combining with his teammates in pockets of space to help create chances, with the help of the explosive speed he has over short distances.

Obviously he isn’t at the club anymore, joining Nottingham Forest in the summer. So Liam Rosenior had to find a slightly different way to get the best out of players who could play in that area. So far this season, he has trusted Diego Moreira in that position and so far he has performed well and yet again, he is a player that can play multiple different positions if required to. One game he could play as part of the attack, another game he could be at right wing-back, or another game he could even switch to the left side. These winger profiles aren’t just the only flexible players in Rosenior’s team.

One of the standout midfielders in Ligue 1 last season was French u21 International Ismaël Doukouré. His composure on the ball, his general physicality and intensity without it, and his ability to dictate when required to or to play forward were fantastic and done to a consistently top level. So far this season, he has been used as a centre back and so far he has also done that role very well.

As a wide centre back, particularly when Rosenior uses three centre backs, timing your jump in the press is important and being aggressive is also key. Ismaël Doukouré has showcased that so far this season, which is why he has been picked ahead of Guéla Doué so far this season in Ligue 1. Being able to carry the ball into space and progress forward in possession is also really important and Ismaël Doukouré has shown this impressively too.

Roberto De Zerbi’s team are famed for the way they take risk playing out the back, often using the goalkeeper to bate the press and then play through or around the spaces that would appear. What they did on Monday night however was totally different, it was quite literally the contrast.

Marseille were super aggressive to begin the game against Paris Saint-Germain, being direct and not letting the likes of Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz or Warren Zaire-Emery get any second to control things. They were also quick in wide areas during transitions and that was seen in the goal, albeit Chevalier failing to deal with the Greenwood cross helped Aguerd have a simple header. Something else that was also key was the defensive discipline with no spaces allowed between the lines.

Whilst there will be some similarities from that game on Monday heading into this one on Friday night, Marseille will certainly look to have more possession and stamp an authority onto the game. With Angel Gomes and Pierre-Emil Højbjerg expected to be the midfield pairing in the double pivot, they’re more than capable of controlling the possession and general tempo of this game. Using the wide areas could also be key, being able to stretch the defence to create inside pockets could lead to some good chances to be created.

If Olympique Marseille can have fluidity off the ball from their forward players to try drag Strasbourg defenders into uncomfortable areas far away from defensive comfort zones, they can manipulate how Strasbourg will have to play and could also be very lethal too.

The way Strasbourg can hurt Marseille is through wide overloads with wing backs pushing high, forward players being in them pockets that will be there to exploit with Marseille expected to be more expansive in this game and also the wide centre backs can also push on a bit and almost play like full backs. Taking the risk, being aggressive, taking that initiative in your own back garden. These are the kind of things that could prove to be key for Strasbourg if they are to pick up a big win over Marseille in Ligue 1 on Friday.

Head to Head record

Ever since Strasbourg got promoted to Ligue 1 in 2017, this fixture has been one Marseille have totally dominated, winning six of the fifteen meetings in Ligue 1. They were previously unbeaten in the previous thirteen meetings prior to last season but under Liam Rosenior last season, Strasbourg were finally able to beat Marseille, where the only goal was scored by Diego Moreira in September 2024.

In that meeting last year, it was a game which saw Marseille have most of the possession with 59% to Strasbourg’s 41%. De Zerbi’s men also had 10 shots but only three were on target and that only generated 0.50 xG. Strasbourg, meanwhile, were a bit more direct and more efficient and even with less of the ball, they looked the more dangerous and creative of the sides. Rosenior’s side had 14 shots, four more than Marseille, and 6 of those were on target, double Marseille’s. That generated higher xG too, 1.31.

Funnily enough, in the reverse fixture at the Stade Vélodrome in January, the game was totally dominated by Marseille. De Zerbi’s side had even more possession than they did last September, 70%. They also had more shots in the game than in the meeting at the Stade de la Meinau, 18, but again only three of those were on target. The xG was at least higher, possibly due to the number of shots taken, but the efficiency didn’t really improve much and they drew 1-1.

Marseille will hope that if Friday night’s game in Ligue 1 with Strasbourg is similar to the two meetings last season, they are more clinical and efficient with their chances. Strasbourg will hope they can put a greater dent into Marseille in terms of general performance.

The latest team news

Strasbourg:

Liam Rosenior’s side will be without Rabby Nzingoula, who is suspended. They will also be without Sebastian Nanasi, Saidou Sow and Julio Enciso, who are injured.

Olympique de Marseille:

Roberto De Zerbi’s side will be with a similar squad for this Friday’s Ligue 1 clash with Strasbourg to what they had on Monday night. Geoffrey Kondogbia and Hamed Traore remain out with injuries.

The predicted line-ups

Strasbourg: Penders, Ismaël Doukouré, Mamadou Sarr, Omobamidele, Moreira, Barco, Rafael Luis, Amougou, Chilwell, Lemaréchal, Panichelli.

Olympique de Marseille: Rulli, Pavard, Balerdi, Aguerd, Emerson, Gomes, Højbjerg, Greenwood, Nadir, Weah, Gouiri.

Final thoughts

Whilst off the pitch and in the stands the atmosphere will be very strange from a Strasbourg perspective due to sanctions against the supporter groups stated, on the pitch it should be an intriguing game that should have plenty of action and a nice easy rhythm to follow and be entertained by.

Both sides won last weekend in Ligue 1 and both will be confident ahead of Friday night. It’ll be a close battle, a fascinating clash of styles and an entertaining game between two fantastic Ligue 1 sides.