Marseille vs Shakhtar Prediction: Olympians to rise to occasion at fortress Velodrome

It's been another troubled start to the week at Olympique Marseille, who have sacked head coach Gennaro Gattuso following Sunday night's 1-0 defeat at Stade Brest.

The French giants subsequently hired Jean-Louis Gasset - fired as the Ivory Coast head coach midway through their ultimately successful Africa Cup of Nations campaign - as the Italian's successor, and the 70-year-old's first game in charge takes place on Thursday night (KO, 20:00), as the Ligue 1 club face Shakhtar Donetsk in the second-leg of their Europa League play-off tie.

The Ukrainians proved awkward opponents in the first-leg as they twice came back from behind to rescue a 2-2 draw in Hamburg.

Marseille will fancy their chances of going one better this time around, though, as they are yet to be beaten at Stade Velodrome this season.

Team News

Marseille defender Leonardo Balerdi is banned for this one due to an accumulation of yellow cards, with Samuel Gigot, who missed their game on the weekend through his own suspension, likely to replace him.

Ismaila Sarr missed the first-leg with a ban but can return to European action on Thursday, but first-choice goalkeeper Pau Lopez is a doubt after missing Sunday's game with an injury.

The visitors also have a player out - Valeriy Bondar - due to an accumulation of yellow cards, while Ivan Petryak, Marlon Gomes and Tymur Puzankov are injured.

Match Odds

Marseille are 8/11 to win in 90 minutes on Thursday and advance to the Round of 16, with victory inside regular time for Shakhtar Donetsk at 18/5. The draw, which would send the tie to extra-time, is 11/4.

Both teams to score, as they did last week, is 4/6, and it's 7/4 for there to be over 3.5 goals again.

Marseille to win and both teams to score - Yes @ 9/4

It's been a tumultuous few days in Marseille following the defeat to Brest and subsequent sacking of Gattuso, but their record at Stade Velodrome is impressive.

Granted, they've drawn their last three there, but nine wins out of 15 there this season - the other six being stalemates - is proof of just how strong they are at home.

They led twice in the reverse fixture, so at home and with a new head coach, they will expect to secure the win they need to advance to the Round of 16 stage.

Shakhtar will fancy their chances of getting themselves on the scoresheet, though - Marseille haven't kept a clean sheet in their last four home matches, or their last seven at any ground.

The Ukrainians found the net in all three of their Champions League group games away at Barcelona, Porto and Royal Antwerp, eventually losing to the Spaniards and Portuguese.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to score first @ 7/2

The former Arsenal and Chelsea striker hasn't exactly ripped up Ligue 1 since joining Marseille last summer, scoring six times in 22 league outings, but he's fared much better in Europe.

Aubameyang has eight goals in as many games on the continent, scoring twice in the Olympians' unsuccessful Champions League play-off tie with Panathinaikos before hitting six in the Europa League group stage.

The 32-year-old was first on the scoresheet in the reverse fixture last week, and that was the fifth time this season he has found the first goal of the game.

He was rested for a good portion of the game on Sunday, only arriving as a substitute for the last half-hour, so should be fresh to give Shakhtar a scare at the earliest opportunity in the second-leg.

Check out the rest of our Football Betting Tips here.