Ayew brothers scheduled for Ligue 1 showdown

The Ayew brothers will take centre stage when Marseille lock horns with FC Lorient in the French Ligue 1 on Friday.

Jordan, the younger of the two, crossed carpets from Les Phoceens to Lorient at the start of the 2014/2015 campaign after five seasons at Stade Velodrome.

This happens to be his first visit to the former French champions since his departure in the summer of 2014.

The 23-year-old, who is his club’s top scorer in the French top-flight with nine goals, will be highly solicited as relegation-threatened Lorient continue to find an escape route with five matches left to end the season.

Meanwhile, Andre’s Marseille, after failing to hold on strongly to their title chase, must now be considering a Uefa Champions League spot as their ambition looks to be fading out.

Marcelo Bielsa’s side are currently occupying the fourth position, which is a Uefa Europa League spot. In France, the top two sides qualify automatically for the Champions League group phase, while the third placed team must go though the qualifying round.

The last time the two clubs met was in December 2014, when they settled for a 1-1 draw at the Stade Yves Allainmat- Le Moustoir. Jordan was the goal getter for his side in that match after scoring from the spot in the 37th minute, with Andre sidelined.

However, with no injury concerns this time, both players are expected to feature for their respective sides on Friday.

The duo played for Ghana at the 2012 and 2015 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2014 Fifa World Cup in Brazil where the Black Stars were eliminated in the first round.

Andre was recently named the best African player in Ligue 1, with Jordan emerging as the best FC Lorient player for the month of March.

The two players are sons of African football legend Abedi Ayew Pele, who won the Uefa Champions League with Marseille in 1993 and also swept the African Footballer of the Year accolade on three different occasions.

Their eldest brother, 27-year-old Rahim Ayew, currently a free agent, was a member of Ghana team at the 2010 Afcon in Angola and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.