Marseille vs Saint-Etienne preview - Bielsa wary of St Etienne threat

Marseille coach Marcelo Bielsa is taking nothing for granted as his Ligue 1 leaders prepare to face one of their toughest tests to date.

Third-placed St Etienne head for the Stade Velodrome on Sunday looking to overhaul Bielsa's men with their first win there since 1979, and the Argentinian is expecting a battle as he looks for a sixth successive victory.

He told the club's official website, www.om.net: "They [St Etienne] are one of the best teams in the league and this match represents a big challenge for us.

"We're not scared of them but we do have respect for their quality. They're a team with forwards who can knock you off balance, they've got physical strength."

Marseille cemented their place at the top of the pile on Tuesday night with a 5-0 demolition of Reims on their own park, and will meet a St Etienne side which drew 1-1 at home to second-placed Bordeaux on Thursday evening.

Just what effect that could have on Christophe Galtier's players remains to be seen, but Bielsa is concentrating only on his own team.

He said: "We played our last match having had only two days rest beforehand and we managed to overcome that difficult situation. But I can't give my opinion on how that kind of thing would affect an opposing team.

"We may have to change things around because we've played three games in nine days."

Marseille have enjoyed a perfect return since drawing their opening fixture away to Bastia and then going down 2-0 at home to Montpellier the following week.

St Etienne have taken just a point from their last two league games, a 1-0 defeat at Lens and their draw with Bordeaux.

Perhaps more significant is their recent record in Marseille, where they have lost on 17 and drawn on three of their last 20 visits.

If they are to address that sequence of results, they will have to find a way to stop striker Andre-Pierre Gignac, who has enjoyed a flying start to the season.

Gignac has eight goals to his name already - he scored 16 in total last season - and was only denied a hat-trick in midweek by a seventh-minute penalty save.