Tottenham Hotspur vs Marseille

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the venue as Tottenham Hotspur and Olympique Marseille go head-to-head in their curtain-raising Champions League Group D encounter.

Tottenham’s return to Europe’s most prestigious club competition following a two-season absence gives manager Antonio Conte a fabulous opportunity to progress beyond the Champions League group stages for the first time as a manager. Deemed top candidates to win Group D, ‘Spurs’ head into proceedings on the back of a six-match unbeaten start to the new Premier League season (W4, D2). On top of that, the Londoners had won five consecutive home meetings with French visitors before losing to Monaco in their most recent such fixture back in 2016. Despite lamenting the lowest win ratio of all English clubs to have taken part in 20+ Champions League matches (44%), they have advanced to the competition’s knock-outs in four of their previous five campaigns.

On the other hand, Marseille’s return to the Champions League after a season-long hiatus presents new manager Igor Tudor with a mammoth task, as his men have suffered 14 defeats in their last 15 outings in the competition (W1). Against this backdrop, ‘Les Olympiens’ have enjoyed a stellar start to the new Ligue 1 season, amassing five wins from their opening six league matches (D1), including four in a row, to mark their best league start since 2012/13. That should bolster Marseille’s spirits as they aim to defy a thoroughly disappointing 13-game record against English sides in the Champions League (W1, D2, L10). With Alexis Sanchez and Dimitri Payet unavailable for selection, the French heavyweights will be concerned about their hopes of getting on the scoresheet after drawing a blank in nine of their last 15 Champions League fixtures.