Champions League Group F Odds : Arsenal look to take big step to qualification with win against Marseille
Arsenal are 1/4 favourites to inflict Marseille’s fifth straight defeat in Group F as The Gunners look to get a huge boost for qualifying for the knockout stages.
Arsenal fans would’ve grimaced when they saw the Group F draw back in August but they could see their side on the verge of qualification if they are able to defeat Marseille at The Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal |
1/4 |
Draw  |
6/1 |
Marseille |
14/1 |
After winning three of their first four games, The Gunners find themselves joint top of Group F with a three point cushion back to Borussia Dortmund back in third.
Arsene Wenger is likely to field an unchanged side from the one that beat Southampton 2-0 on Saturday as they look to carry on to build momentum after the international break.
By sticking with the same squad, it means that Theo Walcott will remain on the bench despite returning from an abdominal injury as a substitute in the Premier League at the weekend.
For Marseille, the aim will be to try and end their rotten luck in the league as they have yet to pick up a single point in Group F after the first 4 games.
It won’t get any easier for L’OM for their trip across the Channel as the French side will be without the midfield duo of Rod Fanni and Andre Ayew who have been mainstays in their starting line-up all season long.
Arsenal will still need to be wary though of the attacking nature of both Andre-Pierre Gignac and Jordan Ayew with the later having netted against The Gunners in the 2-1 defeat on the opening day of the group stages.
The other clash in Group F could have huge ramifications for who qualifies for the next round as Borussia Dortmund host Napoli with both sides keen to not be the side who is sent to the Europa League.
Dortmund knows that the pressure is on as they sit three points behind Napoli and Arsenal in third place with
Italian side Napoli knowing that a repeat win against last year’s runners up would put them through into the last 16. ‘
Jurgen Klopp’s side are still smarting after losing to Bayern Munich on the weekend and they will still be without several key names including Neven Subotic and Mats Hummels although Lukas Piszczek could return after spending the past couple of months out with a hip injury.
Napoli will receive a huge boost for the trip to Germany as captain Marek Hamsik has regained full fitness from the problems that forced him to drop to the bench at the weekend although Giandomenico Mesto and Juan Zuniga are still out of the crunch tie.
With two of the group’s big contenders clashing in Germany, Arsenal will know that getting three points against Marseille will put them one step into the last 16.
