Brighton v Marseille

Brighton vs Marseille Preview

Brighton were held to a slightly disappointing 1-1 draw at home with Burnley on the weekend in the Premier League but at least The Seagulls hold home advantage for this vitally important matchday six clash against their French counterparts, Marseille, who picked up a fourth win on the trot in all competitions when they recorded a 4-2 win away from home at Lorient in the French Ligue 1.

Brighton have produced a sequence of solid results under manager, Roberto de Zerbi in recent times as the hosts have lost just once in their last 10 matches overall which came in the shape of an entertaining 3-2 defeat away from home at Chelsea but the south coast club have also collected five wins in the process including home and away wins against Dutch giants, Ajax and victory over AEK Athens as well.

Thursday night's hosts have also proved to be tough to beat on home soil at their AMEX Stadium as well, with The Seagulls being unbeaten in their previous seven games overall which consists of three wins and four draws while the goals market again appeals here with six of Brighton's last seven home games resulting with both teams scoring, or nine of their last 10 matches seeing both teams score.

Marseille sit top of the Group B table with just a slender one-point lead over Thursday night's hosts, Brighton, heading into this crucial matchday six encounter but the visitors will also fancy their chances of securing a result here on the south coast of England as Gennaro Gattuso's side have won their last four games on the trot which includes a 4-3 home win against Ajax on matchday five of the Europa League.

Wins against Rennes, Lyon and Lorient in the French domestic top flight have followed while the bigger picture shows the visitors have lost just twice in their previous 12 matches in all competitions and have collected seven wins along the way as well.

However, results away from home for the French visitors have been less convincing and indeed fairly poor as Marseille have managed to capture just three wins from their last 16 outings on the road in all competitions which includes no fewer than nine defeats within this period, so this upcoming trip to Brighton may well be a challenging prospect for Gattuso and Co on Thursday night.

In addition, Marseille have managed to keep just two clean sheets in their previous 17 away games overall and this could prove to be a telling statistic as both teams fight for the automatic spot in the knockout rounds of this competition.

Brighton v Marseille Verdict

Given Marseille's poor results away from home, Brighton look the more likely to capture what would be a memorable win in The Seagulls' first foray into European competition.

Therefore, our main bet will be Brighton win @ 1.61

Other side bets worth considering:

Brighton win & Over 3.5 goals @ 3.40

Correct Score: Brighton 3-1 @ 8.50