The two teams have fought each other for all major domestic trophies last season, as well as the first trophy of the current season, thus the football fans all over the world are eagerly awaiting for the new episode of one of the most exciting rivalries in French football.

Marseille pipped Lille to Trophee des Champions title after enduring some heavy pressure from les Dogues to win the game 5:4, and there are no doubts that this game, too, will be a real spectacle of attacking football.

Rudy Garcia’s side haven’t had the perfect start to the season, as they picked up just one point from first two games, but the away win over very good Caen side saw the champions return to the right track.

Lille have just been drawn alongside Inter, CSKA Moscow and Trabzonspor in the Champions League group stage, and they are 1.85 (17/20) to qualify for the next round.

Getting back to the match with Marseille, Rudi Garcia was happy to see Franck Beria, Rio Mavuba and Marko Basa resume training on Wednesday, but Tulio De Melo and David Rozenhal are definitely out.

It appears that Lille are still very active in the transfer window, as they are closing in on Park Chu-Young and Ndri Romaric, whereas Eden Hazard is itching closer to Arsenal move.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Landreau – Debuchy, Basa, Chedjou, Beria – Pedretti, Mavuba, Balmont – Payet, Sow, Hazard.

After losing the Ligue 1 title and Coupe de France trophy to Lille, Marseille were determined to add more quality players to the side over the summer, and we can say they succeeded in their quest.

Diarra, Morel, Amalfitano and N’Koulou are already considered important part of the squad, but what was even more impressive is that the club managed to keep hold of star players Lucho, Ayew and Valbuena despite heavy interest from big European clubs.

Marseille proved they were one of the best attacking sides in France by scoring nine goals in first three games of the season, but some very poor defensive displays ended up costing them precious points against Sochaux and Auxerre.

OM then produced a good defensive performance against Saint Etienne, but then their strikers went missing, so it is now up to Didier Deschamps to find the right balance between attack and defence, and once that happens, Marseille will be the main candidate for the league title.

With Lille looking weaker than last season and PSG still not ready to mount a serious title challenge, I see a great value in backing Marseille to win Ligue 1 title at odds of 4.33 (10/3).

With starting centre-back pairing Nikolas N’Koulou and Stephane M’Bia missing out through suspension and injury respectively, Rod Fanni and Souleymane Diawara are likely to start at the heart of defence. Loic Remy and Morgan Amalfitano remain injury doubts.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Mandanda – Azpilicueta, Fanni, Diawara, Morel – Cheyrou, Diarra – Valbuena, Lucho, A. Ayew – Gignac.