Marseille are still seeking their first win in Group D of the UEFA Champions League as they host Sporting CP on Tuesday. The Portuguese club have a perfect record in this season’s competition and have enough quality to avoid defeat in France.
It has been a disappointing return to the Champions League for Marseille as they have lost both their matches in Group D. They have also failed to register a goal in the competition despite boasting plenty of quality in attack.
Marseille began with a 2-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur before losing 1-0 at home to Eintracht Frankfurt in their previous fixture. Igor Tudor’s men are currently bottom of the group.
One positive for Marseille is that they can draw from their fine domestic form as they are just two points off the pace in Ligue 1. They head into Tuesday’s clash off the back of a 3-0 victory at Angers last Saturday with Jonathan Clauss, Luis Suarez and Gerson getting the goals.
Sporting CP are enjoying a much better start to the Champions League as they remain perfect after two matches. They claimed a 3-0 victory at Eintracht Frankfurt in their opening fixture before running out 2-0 winners over Tottenham Hotspur last time out.
The Portuguese giants have built their European campaign on a solid defence that is yet to concede a goal after two matches. Ruben Amorim’s men have also shown some attacking verve in the competition with five goals from five different scorers.
Like Marseille, Sporting CP can also draw from some solid domestic showings where they have picked up their form after a slow start. They have won three of their last four Primeira Liga matches and head to France off the back of a 3-1 victory over Gil Vicente.
How the bookies view
Despite their disappointing start to the Champions League, Marseille still have the edge among the bookies at 39/29 with SBK. A victory for Sporting CP is valued at 23/10 by Unibet while a draw is set at odds of 5/2 with SBK.
Head to head
Marseille are unbeaten in two friendly meetings with Sporting CP, claiming a 2-1 victory in 2017 before playing out a 1-1 draw in 2018.
Players to watch
Marseille need to start converting their goalscoring opportunities to stand a chance of turning things around. Alexis Sanchez has been their biggest attacking threat this season and is priced at 23/10 by bet365 to find the net on Tuesday.
Marcus Edwards has impressed for Sporting CP this season and could be worth keeping an eye on at the Orange Velodrome. The attacker is already off the mark in the Champions League and priced at 33/10 by Unibet to find the net on Tuesday.
Anything else catch the eye?
Given the attacking quality on show, both teams could be backed to score at 11/14 with SBK. Sporting CP have seen more goals after the break in the Champions League, so the second half could be tipped as the highest scoring half at 11/10 with Paddy Power.
The first half is likely to be cagey and closely fought which means a half time draw could also be considered at 6/5 with bet365.
This UEFA Champions League match between Marseille and Sporting CP will be played on Oct 4, 2022 and kick off at 17:45. Check below for our tipsters best Marseille vs Sporting CP prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
