Marseille 2.3611/8 v Sporting Lisbon 3.259/4; The Draw 3.613/5
Tuesday 4 October, 17:45
Live on BT Sport 1
Teams have contrasting domestic and European form
It's bottom meets top in Group D, as struggling Marseille host a Sporting Lisbon side that have made a perfect start.
Sporting have won both of their two games. Winning 3-0 away at Eintracht Frankfurt and then scoring late goals to beat Spurs 2-0. A former Tottenham player has been at the heart of both victories, with Marcus Edwards belatedly living up to the teenage hype, with two fine performances.
Marseille have lost both of their games, being defeated 2-0 away at Spurs in their opener and then losing 1-0 at home to Eintracht Frankfurt. They are faring much better domestically, with their 3-0 win away at Angers leaving them second in Ligue 1, just two points behind PSG, after an unbeaten start after nine games (W7 D2).
For Sporting, their domestic form has been in contrast to their Champions League results. They are just seventh in the Primeira Liga table after eight games (W4 D1 L3), though they did at least enjoy a 3-1 home win against Gil Vicente at the weekend, to boost morale before this encounter.
Sporting suited to this occasion
Marseille are the favourites at 2.3611/8, with Sporting Lisbon at 3.259/4 and the draw at 3.613/5.
This is a hard match in which to predict the result, with Marseille playing so well domestically, but suffering European defeats, while the opposite being true for Sporting. What has been apparent when watching the Portuguese giants in the Champions League, is how adept they are at counter-attacking.
Perhaps then, they are simply more suited for this competition at the moment. You can find odds of 2.8815/8 on the Sportsbook for Sporting to score over 1.5 goals, which they managed in both of their Champions League outings this season and should at least create a trading opportunity.