The opening 3-0 defeat to Lille must have created pressure ahead of the visit of in-form Marseille, with Nantes hoping to secure the first points of the new campaign.

L’OM, on the other hand, continued the bright run of results with a 3-0 triumph over Dijon, proving they are incredibly motivated to turn the current season into a success.

Having done well to achieve a seventh-place finish last term, Nantes were expected to build on that result, but the club didn’t exactly give new head coach Claudio Ranieri proper backing in the summer transfer window.

Namely, the Canaries saw important players Guillaume Gillet and Amine Harit leave, while they only signed Ciprian Tatarusanu, Nicolas Pallois, Chidozie Awaziem and Joris Kayembe.

Therefore, nobody was surprised to see them suffer a 3-0 loss to Marcelo Bielsa’s Lille, and it is clear the team will have to show massive improvement if they want to avoid the relegation tussle.

Since the opening game of the season, Nantes have stayed without Gillaume Gillet, who moved to Olympiakos, while there have been no new signings.

Summer recruit Ciprian Tatarusanu has been building fitness and he could start against Marseille, in a match where Claudio Ranieri wants his side to be more attack-minded than in the first match.

Probable starting line-up (4-4-2): Tatarusanu – Djidji, Diego Carlos, Pallois, Dubois – Kacaniklic, Toure, Rongier, Iloki – Sala, Nakoulma.

Marseille’s ambitious project is slowly taking shape, meaning that Monaco and PSG might have just got another serious title rival.

L’OM have been investing heavily over the last few transfer windows, but those were all planned dealings, ensuring that Rudi Garcia has a very good squad at his disposal, but without disrupting the balance of the group.

Marseille have so far this season secured their progress to the Europa League play-offs, while hammering Dijon 3-0 in their opening fixture.

While new signing Valere Germain continued to impress, Clinton N’Jie proved this could be his season, coming off the bench to seal the win with two goals.

Marseille now look a good bet to defeat struggling Nantes as well, with away win paying 2.15 (23/20) with BetVictor.

New signing Jordan Amavi will challenge Patrice Evra for a starting berth, while Dimitri Payet is unlikely to be risked having failed to recover from injury.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Mandanda – Sakai, Rami, Rolando, Evra – Lopez, Gustavo, Sanson – Thauvin, Germain, N’Jie.