Olympique de Marseille vs. Lille OSC 1/16/22 Ligue 1 Soccer Pick, Prediction, and Odds

Olympique de Marseille and Lille OSC are facing off at Orange Velodrome in round 21 of the Italian Serie A. Marseille are now in 3^rd place, they are having a solid season, and they are the best defensive team in the league. Lille is far from the top, it’s clear they will not defend the title, and their only hope is to do something in the Champions League.

Marseille is undefeated in their last 6 games, while they have won 5 of those 6 games. With 36 points, Marseille is now in 3^rd place, and as I’ve mentioned, they are the best defensive team in the league with only 15 conceded goals. The good news for Marseille is they are getting most of their covid players back, and that will certainly help them stay on this nice run. Payet has 7 goals and 6 assists to his name for Marseille in Ligue 1 this season, while Under added 5 goals. Marseille is facing a couple of tough opponents over the next couple of weeks, but they are in good form, they are strong at home, and they don’t need to be scared of anyone.

Lille was on an 11-game streak without a loss, but unfortunately for them, they lost to Lens in the French Cup last week after a penalty shootout. The good news for Lille is they are well-rested for this game, and they hope to continue their run in Ligue 1. With 28 points, Lille is in low 10^th place, they have scored only 26 goals, and they have also conceded 26 goals, which is way too many for a team of their caliber. After Marseille, Lille has a couple of easier games, but then they are facing PSG. Canadian International, Jonathan David is the leading goalscorer for Lille with 12 goals so far this season. Jardim, Weah, Celik, and Yilmaz are all injured, and that is in part a reason why Lille is not consistent this season, but there is nothing they can do about this. Lille is a solid team who won the title last season with solid defense, and an offense that scored a lot more goals than this season, but unfortunately for Lille, they don’t have that at the moment. I’m sure Lille will climb the standings, but how far, I don’t know, I just know they won’t be able to defend the title.

I have a feeling this will be a very ugly and rough game with a lot of fouls, a lot of cards, and probably a penalty or two, and that is what I will take for this match.