Ajaccio, France – Marseille may be only three points off the top of Ligue 1 ahead of this weekend's trip to Ajaccio, but goalkeeper Steve Mandanda is calling on his teammates to step up.
Marseille has lost its last three games in all competitions, including a 2-0 defeat to PSG in the Coupe de la Ligue on Thursday, and Mandanda is hoping his side can come together and end those losing ways at Ajaccio.
"This is a bad time, with defeats and injuries," Mandanda said of his team's current struggles.
"We expect a tough game against Ajaccio, so we'll have to come together, prepare well and try to stop this negative run."
Part of the problem is that Marseille is missing striker Andre-Pierre Gignac because of a broken metatarsal, robbing Marseille of some much-needed firepower up top.
Without Gignac, Marseille has been held without a goal in its last three games, which is something that must change in order for the club's current slump to end.
PSG will be buoyed by its cup success in midweek and will try to maintain its place atop the league with a win over St Etienne, which will attempt to end PSG's streak of clean sheets at four games.
Toulouse enters the weekend level with Marseille in second place and will visit Bordeaux on Sunday, while fourth-place Lyon entertains Bastia.
Saturday's action features a pair of one-win teams in Nice and Nancy squaring off at the Municipal du Ray, Rennes takes on surprise package Reims, Lille hits the road to face Evian, Montpellier hopes to climb into the top half of the league with a win at Troyes and Valenciennes hosts Sochaux, which sits in the bottom three.
On Friday, Brest secured a 2-0 win over Lorient with goals from Eden Ben Basat and Charlison Benshop, extending Lorient's winless streak to six games in Ligue 1.
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