Ligue 1: 3 Big Questions for the Weekend
Marseille's Hail Mary, parallel problems for Chelsea's owners and PSG's bogey team
Can a notorious AFCON coach make anything out of Marseille?
Jean-Louis Gasset. Does that name mean anything to you? Think AFCON. Now you've got it!
Yep, Monsieur Gasset was the coach considered so disastrous that he was fired midway through the tournament. The Elephants went on to win the whole thing, so someone, somewhere might have been on to something.
Marseille have gone in the opposite direction and have appointed the 70-year-old Frenchman as their fourth – yes, fourth – manager of the season. Number three, Gennaro Gattuso, was fired this week after a run of just one win in nine games. Marseille are now stranded in ninth place in the standings, ten points off the top-two and are relying on whatever the combination of a Hail Mary and a curveball is with yet another managerial change.
Back in the day, Gasset played his entire career at Montpellier and it was the first club he coached back in 1998. Of course, Marseille will be hosting Montpellier for his first Ligue 1 game in charge. The supporters and coach have certainly gotten off to a strong start with Marseille defeating Shakhtar Donetsk in a Europa League playoff. Let's see if that attraction carries through to a second date on Sunday in Le Velodrome.
Sunday - 2:45PM ET - Marseille vs. Montpellier - live on beIN SPORTS
Will PSG be Terrier-fied by a Rennes-away train?
Two puns in one headline. That's how good Sunday's Ligue 1 match up between PSG and Rennes is going to be. In one corner, there's a PSG side that has now gone 17 games unbeaten, but has been through the ringer and back out again unscathed on more than one occasion. It's also a team that can afford to have Kylian Mbappe starting on the bench. For tactical reasons of course.
What about Rennes? A slow start has been shaken off and Rennes are now chasing a seventh Ligue 1 win in a row. It's a run that has seen the side storming up the standings into seventh, six points away from the top-two. Rennes have been just as lethal in the Europa League as well, having stuck three past AC Milan on Thursday although it was not enough to see them through to the final.
That run has coincided with the return of star striker, Martin Terrier, who was out for almost a year with an ACL injury but is back with a bang with five goals scored in recent matches. Rennes will be coming to the Parc de Princes playing with house money, in fantastic form and with the status of being the team that has beaten PSG the most with seven victories since 2011.
Sunday - 11:05AM ET - PSG vs. Rennes - live on beIN SPORTS
Is history repeating for Patrick Vieira?
Chelsea and Strasbourg have more than just their ownership group in common. Both teams are in tenth in their respective divisions and have had seasons that have not exactly met expectations. While Chelsea have shown signs of life in the Premier League and have a League Cup final on Sunday, Strasbourg are in a nose-dive with three defeats on the bounce topping off a run of five in Ligue 1 without a win.
Patrick Vieira was sacked by Crystal Palace a year ago, and the former French midfielder might be wondering if history will repeat. To begin the fightback, Strasbourg absolutely have to beat Brest. Sounds easy on paper, but Brest are currently second in Ligue 1 and are the division's spoilers having beaten Marseille last week and taken points off both Nice and PSG in the past month.
Saturday - 3PM ET - Strasbourg vs. Brest - live on beIN SPORTS
