Marseille v. Paris: The preview
Women's football•
Ahead of the first Classique of the season for our women's team tomorrow, find out all you need to know about this clash on Matchday 9 of the Arkema Première Ligue.
Ahead of their first season in the French top flight since 2020, Les Marseillaises underwent a complete transformation this summer, with the transfer dealings to match their lofty aims. As shown by signings such as former Spain international Marta Carro from Valencia CFF and of both Margaux Le Mouël and Mathilde Bourdieu from Paris FC, the southerners are intent on becoming an Arkema Première Ligue mainstay in the coming years, which should make for a tasty battle at the Stade Francis Turcan in Martigues tomorrow, when Les Parisiennes will be looking to continue their excellent run of five straight league wins in order to keep the pressure on leaders Lyon.
Meanwhile, Friday night's hosts seem to have found their rhythm since appointing Corinne Diacre as their head coach in early October, during which time the former France manager has lifted her side out of the relegation zone and built up a four-point lead over the current 11th-placed team, Saint-Étienne. Having avoided defeat in each of their last three games (winning one and drawing two), Les Phocéennes are coming into this match full of confidence and with a squad that has been improving week after week.
For this first Classique of 2025–2026, Diacre is expected to stick with the 4-1-4-1 formation that has served her so well on the previous three matchdays. In defence, the centre-back pairing of Ninon Blanchard and Marta Carro seems irreplaceable as it forms a compact unit in front of goalkeeper Margot Shore, but there are bigger question marks over the full-back positions. On the right, Tess Laplacette may well make her return to the squad after missing the game at home to Lens a fortnight ago, but if not, Jenny Perret will probably have to leave her role as a defensive midfielder to lend a hand once again at the back. Meanwhile, on the opposite side, Algeria international Roselène Khezami appears to have gained the upper hand over Roxane Couasnon in recent weeks.
In the engine room, the aforementioned Margaux Le Mouël, who bagged herself a brace against Lens, will undoubtedly feature in her side's starting XI tomorrow. If so, she will probably sit just behind another cornerstone of the Marseille squad, Laura Bourgouin, who could line up alongside Salomé Elisor if the latter manages to recover from her injury in time; if not, it's likely that Jamaica international Jody Brown will once again take her teammate's place. On the right wing, Costa Rica's Melissa Herrera will be able to bring her wealth of experience to the task of providing some decent service to Mathilde Bourdieu, who has already found the back of the net four times in nine games. Finally, the left wing could be occupied by the young Inès Kbida if Naomie Bamenga isn't yet fit enough to return to competitive action.
The November/December international break was a standout one for the Paris players who competed in the recent UEFA Women's Nations League Finals.
After beating Germany 3-0 on aggregate in the final (0-0 in the first leg in Kaiserslautern and 3-0 in the second leg in Madrid), Olga Carmona won the second UWNL title of her career with Spain, while a France side featuring Élisa de Almeida, Sakina Karchaoui, Griedge Mbock and Thiniba Samoura clinched bronze thanks to a hard-fought 4-3 aggregate win over Sweden in the third-place play-off (2-1 in the first leg in Reims and 2-2 after extra time in Solna).
L'Espagne d'Olga Carmona remporte l'UEFA Nations League ! 🏆
— PSG Féminines (@PSG_Feminines) December 2, 2025
¡Felicidades, Olga! 👏
📸 UEFA pic.twitter.com/eMtSwBMmxV
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