De Zerbi praises African, while Greenwood frustrates him: "It annoys me what he does"

After the victory against Lyon last weekend, Roberto De Zerbi's team aims to score another win and reduce the gap with Paris Saint-Germain. This would also allow them to distance themselves from persistent challengers, Nice and Monaco, in the battle for positions that lead to the Champions League.

The Italian coach will have the opportunity to give playing time to two players who recently joined the team at Velodrome. These are Amar Dedic, who arrived from Salzburg on Monday, and Ismael Bennacer, who joined on loan from Milan.

"They are intelligent players who can contribute immediately. It won't take them long to adapt to our team," says Italian. Bennacer, in particular, is a special case. The Algerian national team player was a highly desired signing by the club.

"It's a big transfer for us, his qualities perfectly match our style of play. He's a top player, and now he's with us. He really wanted to come to Marseille. We talked about him back in August, but we couldn't make it happen then. When Mehdi Benatia told me there was a chance to bring him in, we got to work," added De Zerbi.

They clicked and smashed Lyon! Greenwood and Rabiot are a lethal duo

The coach also made an interesting statement ahead of the match regarding the team's top scorer, Englishman Mason Greenwood. The former Manchester United player is second on the Ligue 1 scoring list with 13 goals, showing great form since arriving at Velodrome last summer. However, the Italian coach mentioned one thing that "really frustrates" him about Greenwood—his corner-taking.

"Greenwood is not a specialist at taking corners. He could become one, but he's too focused on scoring... When he goes to take a corner, he somewhat changes... That annoys me," concluded the 45-year-old strategist.

LIGUE 1 - MATCHDAY

Friday

Nantes - Brest 0-2 (0-1)

/Ajorque 9, Lees-Melou 90+6/

PSG - Monaco 4-1 (1-1)

/Vitinha 6, Kvaratskhelia 54, Dembele 57, 90 - Zakaria 17/

Saturday

Nice - Lens 2-0 (1-0)

/Laborde 10 pen, Clauss 64/

Lille - Le Havre 1-2 (0-1)

/Akpom 90+7 - Hassan 38, Soumare 56/

Saint-Etienne - Rennes 0-2 (0-1)

/Kalimuendo 15, Nagida 84/

Sunday

17.00: (1.55) Olympique Lyon (4.30) Reims (6.75)

19.15: (3.15) Auxerre (3.45) Toulouse (2.40)

19.15: (1.82) Strasbourg (3.60) Montpellier (4.40)

21.45: (6.00) Angers (4.00) Olympique Marseille (1.65)

***odds are subject to change***