Subs: de Lange, Van Neck, Egan-Riley, Gomes, Bakola, Mmadi, Doubal, Vermeeren, Nadir, Aubameyang, O’Riley, Igor Paixao.
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Liverpool: Alisson, Frimpong, Gomez, Van Dijk, Kerkez, Gravenberch, Mac Allister, Salah, Szoboszlai, Wirtz, Ekitike.
\n Subs: Mamardashvili, Woodman, Endo, Chiesa, Jones, Gakpo, Robertson, Nyoni, Ngumoha.
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Referee: Slavko Vincic (Slovenia)
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Marseille away is an absolute doozy. Drinking in the Old Port, maybe taking a day trip to out to the calanques, weaving through the streets of Noailles, soaking up heady mix of north African and French vibes, the place is absolutely electric. Oh, to be a Liverpool supporter on tour right now.
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Great city, great club and a fascinating current team and manager. Roberto De Zerbi, the former Brighton manager, has turned Marseille into outside title contenders domestically and a European force again. With two matches remaining in the league phase, both Marseille and Liverpool sit just outside the automatic qualification to the knockout rounds. A win here is absolutely essential to both sides chasing a spot in the top eight. Anything other than a win here and either side will most likely have to settle with a playoff spot.
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There’s a lot to enjoy and a lot on the line. Let’s get it.
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Kick-off: 8pm GMT.
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| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arsenal | 7 | 18 | 21 |
| 2 | Real Madrid | 7 | 11 | 15 |
| 3 | Bayern Munich | 6 | 11 | 15 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 7 | 8 | 14 |
| 5 | PSG | 7 | 10 | 13 |
| 6 | Sporting | 7 | 5 | 13 |
| 7 | Man City | 7 | 4 | 13 |
| 8 | Atalanta | 6 | 2 | 13 |
| 9 | Inter Milan | 7 | 6 | 12 |
| 10 | Atletico Madrid | 6 | 3 | 12 |
| 11 | Liverpool | 6 | 3 | 12 |
| 12 | Borussia Dortmund | 7 | 4 | 11 |
| 13 | Newcastle | 6 | 7 | 10 |
| 14 | Chelsea | 6 | 5 | 10 |
| 15 | Barcelona | 6 | 3 | 10 |
| 16 | Marseille | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| 17 | Juventus | 6 | 2 | 9 |
| 18 | Galatasaray | 6 | 0 | 9 |
| 19 | Bayer Leverkusen | 7 | -4 | 9 |
| 20 | Monaco | 7 | -6 | 9 |
| 21 | PSV | 6 | 4 | 8 |
| 22 | Olympiacos | 7 | -5 | 8 |
| 23 | Napoli | 7 | -5 | 8 |
| 24 | Copenhagen | 7 | -6 | 8 |
| 25 | Qarabag FK | 6 | -3 | 7 |
| 26 | Club Brugge | 7 | -5 | 7 |
| 27 | Bodo/Glimt | 7 | -2 | 6 |
| 28 | Benfica | 6 | -2 | 6 |
| 29 | AE Pafos | 6 | -5 | 6 |
| 30 | Union Saint Gilloise | 6 | -8 | 6 |
| 31 | Ajax | 7 | -12 | 6 |
| 32 | Athletic Bilbao | 6 | -5 | 5 |
| 33 | Eintracht Frankfurt | 6 | -8 | 4 |
| 34 | Slavia Prague | 6 | -9 | 3 |
| 35 | Villarreal | 7 | -10 | 1 |
| 36 | FC Kairat | 7 | -14 | 1 |
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major events
Arne Slott speaks TNT cameras for pitchside:
This is not the first time we are playing in an unfavorable stadium. We played at Galatasaray. This is a great stadium [here]great atmosphere.
In the moments when I didn’t play him, we were struggling and I tried to do something else. We have steadied the ship now, but in all the ball possession and chances we have had, we have missed goals. Salah is one of those players who can score goals.
Joe Gomez is alongside Virgil van Dijk at centre-back for Liverpool, with Ibrahima Konate absent due to “family matters”.
First of all, it’s really sad that Ibrahima can’t come here. But Joe is a good replacement but hasn’t played much since I’ve been here. But he’s shown he can be a really good player for us.
Djibril Cisse, Lord of Frodsham And a former player from both these sides is also at the Velodrome. Now 44, the Frenchman is looking sharp.
Another big talent that Marseille will add to their squad Next up is Arsenal’s Ethan Nwaneri, who has struggled for minutes this season. The wonderkid would join the French team on loan until the end of the season.
Nwaneri has played 165 minutes in the Premier League and has excelled in his breakthrough campaign, scoring nine goals in all competitions. He has not appeared in the league since the end of November, when he came on in the North London derby.
Arsenal were initially reluctant to allow him to leave as they are still in four competitions, but it is understood they have recognized that Nwaneri needs game time. Crystal Palace and West Ham are also believed to have shown interest in a loan move.
The French side will have to pay the loan fee, but will have no option to make his move permanent at the end of the season, with Nwaneri considered one of Arsenal’s brightest talents. He signed a new five-year deal in August following strong interest from Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund.
manager dress watch: I’m pleased to report that De Zerbi is wearing a snow-white turtle neck under the blazer, while Arne Slott has opted to wear a club tracksuit tonight.
the teams! Salah starts for Liverpool!
Marseille: Rulli, Pavard, Balerdi, Medina, Murillo, Hojbjerg, Kondogbia, Weah, Greenwood, Traore, Gauri.
Sub: De Lange, Van Neck, Egan-Riley, Gomes, Bakola, Mamadi, Doubal, Vermeiren, Nadir, Aubameyang, O’Reilly, Igor Paixao.
Liverpool: Alisson, Frimpong, Gomez, Van Dijk, Kerkez, Gravenberch, McAllister, Salah, Szoboszlai, Wirtz, Akitike.
Subs: Mamardashvili, Woodman, Endo, Chiesa, Jones, Gakpo, Robertson, Nyoni, Ngumoha.
Ref: Slavko Vincic (Slovenia)
marseille vs liverpool It is one of seven 8pm (GMT) kick-offs in the Champions League. Luke McLaughlin will be covering the other six matches in our clockwatch, which you can find here.
There are two early kick-offs: Galatasaray vs. Atletico and Qarabag vs. Eintracht Frankfurt. Both the matches are currently in the second half and the live score of both is 1-1.
As far as Liverpool is concernedThis is clearly a huge game for Arne Slots and company. Outside of the Premier League title race, European competition has become even more important than usual as the club tries to recapture last season’s form.
Slote has been under pressure this season, and while he may not have welcomed the news of Xabi Alonso’s dismissal at Real Madrid, the former Liverpool midfielder is one of the managers being viewed as a potential successor at Anfield. All this seems unlikely, at least in the short term, but failure to qualify for the knockout round – by finishing outside the top eight and losing the playoffs – could seal the fate of the slot.
The good news for Slote and Liverpool is that Mo Salah is back. Salah trained with Liverpool on Tuesday for the first time since returning from the Africa Cup of Nations and Slote said the Egyptian is in line for an immediate return to the Liverpool squad in Marseille.
“There came a moment in the season when I decided not to play Mo and there came a moment when I decided not to take him to the game. [the win at Inter that followed Salah’s explosive interview]” Slott said in the lead up to this game. “There has never been an issue for me, and for the first time he has been able to join the team again, that is. If you still think there is a problem, let’s see the lineup tomorrow.
I wrote a little about that fight Between Rabiot and Rowe at the start of the season, both players are now in Serie A.
We will have team news and starting XI Soon but Marseille’s team is absolutely fascinating. City has always been a place of crazy chaos and it feels like this team is an extension of that, with players as diverse as Matt O’Reilly (on loan from Brighton), Benjamin Pavard (on loan from Inter), rising star Igor Paixao, Timothy Weah (now clearly a right back), English player Angel Gomes (signed on a free transfer), CJ Egan-Riley (signed from Burnley), top scorer Mason Greenwood. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Neal Maupay, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Geronimo Rulli and Geoffrey Kondogbia.
To give you some context, Marseille started the season with two of their best players languishing in the dressing room – Adrien Rabiot and Jonathan Rowe both disgracefully left the club shortly after – while their last four results have been as varied as a 2-0 home defeat to Nantes, a 2-2 draw with PSG (PSG won on penalties), a 9-0 win in the French Cup and the league. 5-2 win over Angers at the weekend in 1. Tonight, they host Liverpool and play Ligue 1 leaders Lens on Saturday. It’s never boring in Marseille.
Please enjoy George Boxall’s preview, which explains a bit more.
Preface
Marseille is a complete sleep away. Sipping wine in the old port, perhaps visiting the Calanques for a day, wandering the streets of Noailles, taking in the heady mix of North African and French atmosphere, this place is absolutely electric. Oh, just got to be a Liverpool supporter on tour.
Great city, great club and a fascinating current team and manager. Former Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi has transformed Marseille into an away title contender domestically and a European force again. With two matches remaining in the league stage, Marseille and Liverpool are both out of automatic qualification for the knockout rounds. A win here is absolutely necessary for both sides to make it to the top eight. Anything but a win can happen here and both sides will probably have to settle for a playoff spot.
There’s a lot to enjoy and a lot on the line too. let’s get it.
launch: 8pm GMT.