Qarabag FK vs Marseille Match Analysis and Prediction

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Following a 3-1 home victory last week, Marseille aim to secure their place in the Europa Conference League round of 16 on Thursday, when they travel to Azerbaijan to face Qarabag FK in the second leg of their playoff tie.

A victory in the south of France has seen Marseille arrive with an advantage, while the hosts will be out to cause a major upset.

Under the management of long-serving boss Gurban Gurbanov, Qarabag were impressive in their Conference League group this season, picking up three wins and suffering just one defeat to Basel to finish second.

While that was not enough to confirm automatic qualification to the final 16, at least it did grant them a playoff game, Qarabag were dealt a tough hand as they were drawn against Marseille.

Their trip to France last week began in difficult fashion as they trailled 2-0 in the first half, and while a late Kady goal provided encouragement, Marseille again scored in the last minutes to ensure they returned home with a two-goal deficit to overturn.

Meanwhile, after dropping into the Conference League playoffs due a third-placed finish in their Europa League group, Marseille headed into the first leg with plenty of confidence, having won five of their previous eight Ligue 1 matches and collected 17 points to climb to second in Ligue 1.

Les Olympiens then carried that form into the continental encounter at the Stade Velodrome, as Arkadiusz Milik scored a brace to give them a two-goal lead at the break before Dimitri Payet sealed the victory with a 92nd-minute finish from close range.

However, Jorge Sampaoli’s side suffered a disappointing Ligue 1 defeat at the weekend, as newly-promoted Clermont picked up a surprise 2-0 away victory, which left Les Olympiens just a single point ahead of third-placed Nice.

Qarabag FK vs Marseille head to head

The two clubs have previously met on only one occasion in the first leg of the Europa Conference League playoff tie, where Marseille picked up a 3-1 home victory.

Marseille 3-1 Qarabag 17/02/22

Qarabag FK latest home form

Qarabag have recently been on a good run of form at home, having lost just one of their five most recent matches. They lost 1-0 to Backa Topola in a club friendly match on January 21. In their last five matches, they have won three, drawn one and lost one.

Qarabag 2-2 Omonia Nicosia 25/11/21

Qarabag 5-1 Sabah 04/12/21

Qarabag 2-0 Zira 16/12/21

Qarabag 0-1 Backa Topola 21/01/22

Qrabag 1-0 Keshla 01/02/22

Qarabag latest away form

Qarabag lost their last away game 3-1 to Marseille in the Europa Conference League. However, they have been on a good form on the road, as they have lost just one of their previous six matches. In their last five matches, they have won two, drawn one and lost two.

Qebele 0-0 Qarabag 29/11/21

Basel 3-0 Qarabag 09/12/21

Neftchi Baku 1-2 Qarabag 07/02/22

Keshla 0-6 Qarabag 11/02/22

Marseille 3-1 Qarabag 17/02/22

Marseille latest home form

Marseille lost their last league home game 2-0 to Clermont. However, they have recently been on a poor run of form at home, having been unbeaten in seven matches prior to that. They recently managed to defeat Montpellier through penalty shootouts after a 1-1 draw in the Coupe de France.

Marseille 1-1 Lille 16/01/22

Marseille (P)1-1 Montpellier 29/01/22

Marseille 5-2 Angers 04/02/22

Marseille 3-1 Qarabag 17/02/22

Marseille 0-2 Clermont 20/02/22

Marseille latest away form

Marseille have recently failed to keep a good run of form on the road, having lost two of their five most recent away matches. They recently lost 4-1 to Nice in the Coupe de France. In their last five away matches, they have scored 7 goals and conceded 7 as well.

Bordeaux 0-1 Marseille 07/01/22

Lens 0-2 Marseille 22/01/22

Lyon 2-1 Marseille 01/02/22

Nice 4-1 Marseille 09/02/22

Metz 1-2 Marseille 13/02/22

Qarabag FK news

Qarabag are most likely to retain the side that faced Marseille in the first leg, although Gurbanov will likely set his side up in a more attacking style.

Striker Ramil Sheydayev could be an option having been reduced to a sustitute appearance in France after scoring twice in the group stage.

Marseille news

Boubacar Kamara, Gerson and Pepe Gueye should form a midfield trio, while Bamba Dieng and Cengiz Under will vie to feature in the front three, with Dimitri Payet expected to be given a break.

William Saliba and Matteo Guendouzi could again be left out to prepare for Sunday’s trip to Troyes.

Prediction and Odds

Following the result in the first leg, Qarabag are likely to go in a desperate search of goals to overturn the deficit for them to progress to the next stage.

However, Marseille come into the fixture strong and with the quality within the squad, they should win the match on Thursday.

Odds: 1 2.50 X 2.05 2 1.90