Matteo Guendouzi was named captain for Marseille on Sunday, though the game didn’t exactly go as planned for the Arsenal loanee.

Lokomotiv Moscow v Olympique de Marseille: Group E - UEFA Europa League. Matteo Guendouzi of Marseille looks on during the UEFA Europa League Group E match between Lokomotiv Moscow and Olympique de Marseille on September 16, 2021. Copyright: Mike Kireev
Lokomotiv Moscow v Olympique de Marseille: Group E – UEFA Europa League. Matteo Guendouzi of Marseille looks on during the UEFA Europa League Group E match between Lokomotiv Moscow and Olympique de Marseille on September 16, 2021. Copyright: Mike Kireev

With all the rumblings of internal discontent towards Matteo Guendouzi in the Marseille squad, it seemed like a bit of a pointed decision from Jorge Sampaoli to name the Arsenal loanee his captain against Lille on Sunday.

William Saliba also made the starting lineup, but neither of the two Arsenal men will be too happy with how things played out.

Lille had the majority of the chances in the game, despite having significantly less possession. They scored in both halves and drew a red card for Cengiz Under, winning 2-0.

Guendouzi struggled in dribbles (completing 1 of 3) and ground duels (winning 1 of 4), and his high pass accuracy of 91% didn’t lead to enough chances – he didn’t play any key passes himself.

As for Saliba, it wasn’t his best game either. Goalscorer Jonathan David capitalised on the centre-back’s failed attempted clearance to score the opener, and Saliba couldn’t get out quickly enough to stop Timothy Weah’s cross for Lille’s late second goal.

Saliba did play well aside from those two moments, but you can’t afford those mistakes.

After a very good start to the season, Marseille have hit a bit of a rut. They go into the international break on the back of consecutive Ligue 1 defeats and four games without a win in all competitions.

They’ll hope the break refreshes them for the visit of Lorient on October 17th, at 19:45 BST.