Souleymane Diawara is expected to be out until the end of September as he recovers from a ruptured cruciate ligament.
Prediction
Marseille will be looking to rebound from a disappointing season under the stewardship of new manager Elie Baup, L'OM won the Coupe de la Ligue last season but endured an arduous league campaign as they finished a lowly 10th in Le Championnat.
Reims powered to promotion from Ligue 2 last season thanks to goals from Kamel Ghilas and striking sensation Cedric Faure, who has since left the club after failing to agree a new contract. Julien Toudic will be expected to fill the void left by Faure, but he faces a tough challenge in his opening game against Marseille's central defensive partnership of Nicolas N'Koulou and Stephane M'Bia.
Baup has inherited a side full of quality, and realistically it is impossible to see them performing as badly as they did last season. Reims will be well motivated ahead of their first top flight game for 33 years, but the men from the Southern coast have more than enough talent of run out comfortable winners.
