Olympique Marseille  have the chance to reward their long-suffering fans with their first silverware in 13 years when they face arch-rivals Paris St Germain in the French Cup final on Saturday.

Marseille, who enjoyed the last of their record 10 Cup wins back in 1989, have not put their hands on any trophies since their 1993 Champions League triumph.

'Our fans have been waiting for a title for a long time and now we have a chance to offer them one,' said Marseille coach Jean Fernandez.

Matches between the sides from France's two largest cities are always regarded as high risk and have become increasingly tense in recent years.

More than 2,000 police will be deployed around the Stade de France for the game between the two bitter foes, who have never met each other in a title match.

'We're preparing for this as for any other game and we're careful to avoid unwanted pressure,' said PSG coach Guy Lacombe.

'This is a football match and the focus must be on football'.

A Marseille supporter was paralysed after being hit by a seat thrown by PSG hooligans during a game between the two sides at Parc des Princes in 2002.

The last meeting between the two clubs, in March, resulted in a French Football Federation (FFF) ethics commission hearing because Marseille fielded a B team and asked their supporters not to travel to the match in Paris, citing security fears.

Around 20,000 Marseille fans are expected for the game and have queued up for hours to collect their tickets.

Marseille are on a great run, having knocked out Olympique Lyon in the Cup quarter-finals before thrashing Nancy 6-0 in Ligue 1 and beating Rennes 3-0 in the Cup semi-finals.

The southerners lie fifth in the Ligue 1 standings, three spots above PSG, and both clubs need to lift the Cup, whose winners qualify for the UEFA Cup, to make sure of playing in Europe next season.

'Marseille are on form and they're above us in the standings, which means they're the favourites and it will take a great performance to beat them,' Lacombe told reporters.

The danger for Marseille is likely to come from Portugal striker Pedro Pauleta, the PSG captain, who has scored 20 league goals this season.

Marseille's main trump card is midfielder Franck Ribery. Both a fighter and an artist, the 23-year-old is arguably the finest player in Ligue 1 and is being hailed as the new Zinedine Zidane.

Several players have said that Saturday's final, which will be played before a sell-out 80,000 crowd, should be approached simply as a potentially exciting football match.

'It's going to be a dream final against Marseille,' said PSG midfielder Edouard Cisse. 'It's going to be the match everybody wants to see.'