Marseille vs Tottenham Hotspur

A ‘winner takes all’ encounter between Olympique Marseille and Tottenham Hotspur in the final round of a high-competitive Champions League Group D takes place at the Stade Velodrome.

With Group D remaining the only one of the eight Champions League groups to see no side eliminated nor assured of progression going into the final matchday, Marseille will fancy their chances of reaching the competition’s knockouts for the first time since 2011/12. Nothing less than a victory will do for ‘Les Olympiens,’ who thumped Sporting CP 4-1 in their most recent Champions League home outing. A much-needed triumph over Tottenham would see them put together back-to-back home wins in the competition for the first time since 2010, when the second victory came at the expense of another London-based side, Chelsea. But it’ll require Igor Tudor’s team to snap a woeful run of nine consecutive winless encounters against English adversaries in European football (D2, L7).

In the meantime, visiting Tottenham pulled off a sensational second-half comeback, turning a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win at fellow Premier League rivals Bournemouth over the weekend to bolster their spirits ahead of this crunch meeting. Avoiding defeat will ensure their progression into the Champions League round of 16 for the first time since 2019/20, but that’s not a foregone conclusion. In fact, ‘Spurs’ have failed to win on each of their six previous road trips to face French sides in major European competitions (D2, L4), including a 2-1 loss at Monaco in their only Champions League contest on French soil. Furthermore, Antonio Conte’s lads have been winless in their last four Champions League away fixtures and are one game shy of setting an unwanted club record!