The Japan Times - Marseille hoping to catch PSG at the right time in Ligue 1

PSG top the Ligue 1 table as the only team to have won their first four games. They sit six points clear of their weekend opponents.

Luis Enrique's PSG side had a drastically reduced off-season break following their run to the Club World Cup final in July. They only began pre-season training a week before their first competitive outing of this campaign.

Having romped to another Ligue 1 title last season, PSG boast such a margin over the rest of French football that they could get through the opening weeks of the campaign while still building match sharpness.

Yet they have also been hit by injuries. Last season's 35-goal top scorer -- and Ballon d'Or favourite -- Ousmane Dembele is on the sidelines along with fellow French international forward Desire Doue.

Brazilian defender Lucas Beraldo missed the 4-0 midweek win over Atalanta in the Champions League with an ankle problem.

Their 65-game 2024/25 season might be catching up with PSG.

There is also a trip to Barcelona looming in the Champions League in under a fortnight.

"We know what this match means for the club and for our supporters," nevertheless said coach Luis Enrique when asked of the significance of the game in Marseille.

PSG's record in the fixture, known in France as "Le Classique", has been remarkable since the transformative Qatari takeover of the side in 2011.

They lost 3-0 at the Velodrome in November that year, but have since been beaten only once in 26 league meetings between the clubs. Marseille will feel it is high time they improved that record.

However, they have lost two of their first four league games after off-pitch turmoil, including a dressing-room bust-up between Adrien Rabiot and Jonathan Rowe. Both have been sold.

Such is the turnover of players in Roberto De Zerbi's squad that seven new signings made their debuts in last weekend's 4-0 win over Lorient.

Marseille's last Ligue 1 title was in 2010, but, as European champions in 1993, they could long boast to their great rivals that they were the only French club to have won the continent's elite club competition.

That is no longer the case, but at least they looked competitive as they lost narrowly to Real Madrid in the Champions League in midweek.

"The conclusion is that I have a very strong team," De Zerbi said after that game.

"I like the qualities my players have, their mentality, their potential. But we are still a long way from achieving what I have in mind."

Player to watch: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia

The absences of Dembele and Doue mean Kvaratskehlia's importance to PSG will be all the greater in Marseille.

The Georgian has been used sparingly in Ligue 1 so far, with just one start and two substitute appearances.

But he was outstanding in midweek as the reigning European champions crushed Atalanta, scoring a superb individual goal.

The former Napoli man, who joined PSG midway through last season, will now get his first taste of the heated atmosphere of Marseille's Velodrome.

Key stats

7 - PSG have won their last seven meetings with Marseille in Ligue 1

6 - Marseille have won their last six home games, scoring a total of 25 goals

6 - Lille, who are second in the table, make the short trip to Lens looking to extend a run of six games unbeaten against their local derby rivals

Fixtures (times GMT)

Friday

Lyon v Angers (1845)

Saturday

Nantes v Rennes (1500), Brest v Nice (1700), Lens v Lille (1905)

Sunday

Paris FC v Strasbourg (1300), Monaco v Metz, Auxerre v Toulouse, Le Havre v Lorient (all 1515), Marseille v Paris Saint-Germain (1845)

K.Yamaguchi--JT