The 2012/2013 Ligue 1 Championnat’s first Clasico kicks off this Sunday as league leaders http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Zlatan-Ibrahimovic-c38029 and co at the Stade Velodrome in Canebiere
Team spirit essential
Olympique de Marseille striker, Loic Remy is putting faith in team spirit ahead of this season’s first Clasico at the Velodrome this Sunday, October 7, 2012. Marseille host archrivals PSG in Week 8 of the 2012/2013 Championnat, looking to come out victors
in a bid to stay at the Ligue 1 summit.
As things stand, Marseille lead the Ligue 1 standings with 18 points from seven games and lead PSG by just three points. Last weekend, Elie Baup’s side were thumped 4-1 away to Valenciennes in what was the Rhone side’s first defeat of the season.
However, Marseille came back strong following the defeat after they thumped http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/AEL-Limassol-c38226 5-1 in a Europa League encounter.
Remy scored his first goals of the season in that game. The striker has been plagued by injuries in recent times so he is not guaranteed a starting spot in Sunday’s crunch game. Elie Baup might prefer Andre-Pierre Gignac over the Lyon graduate but Remy is
hopeful of getting his chance when need arises.
“I cannot wait for the match and to sample the atmosphere around it,” said Remy. “We’ve got quality and team spirit. That spirit’s what we need to retain in all circumstances. This season, the collective is the most important thing. I know on Sunday we’ll
do what we need to do to win the game. For me, Sunday is like a Champions League game.”
Parisians looking to return to winning ways
On Wednesday, Paris Saint-Germain lost to Portuguese giants http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Porto-c39186 1-0 in their second group game of the Champions League. That defeat was Carlo Ancelotti’s side’s first defeat of the season and the Italian tactician would be hoping that the game in Porto
was just a one-off for a side that’s looking to lift its first Championelle since 1997.
And, PSG can indeed rely on this season’s topscorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has already scored seven goals in the league. However, the Swede, by his standards, is going through something of a mini goal drought after failing to score in his side’s last two
games which included a 2-0 win over FC Sochaux in Week 7 of the Championnat.
Following the defeat to Porto, Ancelotti admitted that his side lost to a team that played good football so it’s important for his side to recover for the Marseille game in time.
"We played against a team that played very good football and that's why we lost. Porto have many qualities and an identity. We need a bit of time and it's normal that we're not yet ready to play a quality match here. We must now recover in time for the Marseille
game."
Team News
Olympique de Marseille
Despite scoring a brace in the 5-1 thumping of AEL Limassol, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/France-c2899 international, Loic Remy is set to start the game from the bench in favour of Andre-Pierre Gignac who will be deployed as a lone striker. Rafidine Abdullah was injured during the game against
Limassol while Kassim Abdallah is likely to be sidelined for the next two weeks due to a thigh strain.
Paris Saint-Germain
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mamadou-Sakho-c23293 is suspended for the game.
Predictions
Though PSG lost the game against Porto, it is likely that Ancelotti’s men will play an offensive game against Marseille who will have to stay true in defence if they aspire to get anything out of the game which is definitely not unlikely.
Predicted final score: Marseille 1-1 PSG
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