Marseille, 17th after five straight defeats, visit 16th-placed Troyes

Olympique de Marseille return from a three-week international break with a trip to promoted Troyes on Sunday (20:45), and the table makes it a bottom-of-the-table meeting: Marseille are 17th, the first relegation place, on 3 points, one behind 16th-placed Troyes.

Five defeats in a row

Marseille's only win this season came against Strasbourg on the opening matchday. Since then they have lost four league games in a row, to Rennes, Monaco, Paris FC and Paris Saint-Germain, plus a 4-1 defeat at Besiktas in the Europa League on 17 September. The last of those, a 2-1 home loss to PSG at the Vélodrome before the break, left Bruno Genesio visibly angry: "In Marseille, you can't be satisfied with an honourable defeat. Especially when it's the fourth in a row."

Genesio: "I'm not whining"

Asked on Friday how he was doing, the Marseille coach answered: "How am I? Very well! You're looking after me, anyway. That's nice." He explained his reaction to the PSG game: "I wasn't worn out. I was angry because I saw that some people were satisfied with having lost ONLY 2-1. And that annoys me." Then he added: "But I'm not worn out, I'm not whining. There you go, everything is fine. Well, everything isn't fine, but in any case I'm fine."

Genesio said he had spoken with sporting director Greg Lorenzi and president Stéphane Richard during the break. "Today, we are in an emergency situation. We have to stop this momentum, this negative run, that's the priority," he said, adding: "I was reassured."

Team news

Pierre-Emile Højbjerg will miss the trip after a thigh injury picked up with Denmark that will keep him out for at least two weeks, according to La Provence. Derek Cornelius injured his hip with Canada and faces a long absence; Eurosport reports he will not return before 2027, and that Timothy Weah is suspended after his red card against PSG on 20 September. Amine Gouiri, Marseille's top scorer with four goals according to Eurosport, trained on Friday but remains doubtful with a thigh problem. Himad Abdelli should be available, while Tochukwu Nnadi, back in training alongside Geoffrey Kondogbia, could start next to him in midfield.

Troyes' leaky defence

Stéphane Dumont's side have one win, one draw and three defeats, scoring 4 goals and conceding 11 in five matches. At home they drew 0-0 with Paris FC and lost 6-2 to Strasbourg. Eurosport reports that Dumont will be without Yoan Titi and Ismaël Boura, the latter out for several weeks with a hip injury.

A Marseille win would take them to 6 points, above Troyes. After the trip to the Aube, their next three league opponents are Angers, Le Havre and Toulouse.