‘It was the okayest of times, it was the worst of times’ is how the beginning of Charles Dickens’ a Tale of Two Cities would have gone if it were talking about Marseille and Arsenal this season and he were illiterate. Alright, that’s not the greatest of opening lines, which is probably why I write about football rather than penning much-beloved novels.
Marseille Vs. Arsenal, 2011 UEFA Champions League Matchday 3 Preview: Why Are L’OM So Bad?!?
Arsenal and Marseille meet in the UEFA Champions League. Between them, they have four wins in eighteen domestic matches, but they’re both performing relatively well in Europe. What will be the outcome at the State Velodrome?
Anyway, this UEFA Champions League clash (Wednesday at the Stade Velodrome; 8:45 PM local, 2:45 PM EST) is exactly the sort of meeting that the competition was designed to highlight - two teams barely scraping their way into the group stages who have been poor in their domestic leagues since. Marseille sit 15th in Ligue 1 after two wins in ten games, and Arsenal have barely managed to claw their way back into the top half of the Premier League with a nervy win against Sunderland last weekend.
Arsenal's form, of course, can be explained by the loss of two three six key players due to transfers and injuries. Any side losing a Cesc Fabregas would suffer, but also having Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy leave before Jack Wilshere, Bacary Sagna and Thomas Vermaelen got hurt meant that nobody in their right mind should have expected Arsenal not to experience a bit of a blip until the wounded return. Oh, and both Kieran Gibbs and Aaron Ramsey might sit this one out, thanks to injuries of their own. Ouch.
Marseille are a little more difficult to understand. The loss of Brandao this summer was stupid, but ditching the Brazilian can hardly account for the precipitous drop in the standings the club has suffered so far this year, and nor can losing Gabriel Heinze to AS Roma. It's true that Ligue 1 is far more even than the Premier League, and that a little dip in quality goes a long way, but one win in ten for a team that features the likes of Loic Remy, Lucho Gonzalez, Andrey Ayew and Mathieu Valbeuna rather stretches credibility. I assume Paris Saint-Germain oil money has something to do with all this.
Anyway, despite scuffling in the league, Marseille find themselves top of Group F with six points from six, first beating Olympiakos in Greece before inexplicably handing Borussia Dortmund a 3-0 thumping at home despite being outplayed for 95% of that match. Arsenal have four points, so could overhaul their opponents with a win at the Stade Velodrome. Is that likely?
Honestly, how anyone would know is a little bit beyond me. Both teams are in slumps, both teams have the quality to snap out of them, and nobody will be able to predict just when that will happen. If one was on any sort of form, they’d be the easy pick, but this group has been bizarre and is probably staying that way. But I think I’m under some sort of obligation to make a pick, so let’s say 2-2 as neither team comes away happy. After all, that would be in keeping with both of their seasons.
Projected Lineups
Marseilles (4-2-3-1): Steve Mandanda; Jeremy Morel, Nicolas N'Koulou, Souleymane Diawara, Rod Fanni; Charles Kabore, Alou Diarra; Andre Ayew, Lucho Gonzalez, Mathieu Valbuena; Loic Remy.
Arsenal (4-3-3): Wojciech Szczesny; Andre Santos, Laurent Koscielney, Per Mertesacker, Carl Jenkinson; Alex Song, Tomas Rosicky, Mikel Arteta; Gervinho, Marouane Chamakh, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
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