Tactics
Croatian coach Igor Tudor, 44, took the reins at Olympique de Marseille at the beginning of the campaign. The French club have made a strong start to this season, registering six wins and a draw to climb to second in the Ligue 1 table.
Tudor, whose preferred formation is 3-4-2-1, has plenty of firepower at his disposal. As well as veteran Dimitri Payet – Marseille’s top marksman in the league last season with 12 – Colombian Luis Suárez, Mattéo Guendouzi, Alexis Sánchez and Brazilian Gerson shoulder the goalscoring burden at Olympique.
Tudor has yet another attacking option to call upon in former Schalke player Amine Harit – who as it happens is not the only ex-Royal Blue in the Marseille squad. Sead Kolasinac is part of the three-man defence tasked with protecting goalkeeper Pau López, a recent signing from Roma. Both Harit and Kolasinac were second-half substitutes in Marseille’s 2-0 defeat at Tottenham in their Champions League opener last week.
Absentees
Eintracht trio Christopher Lenz, Luca Pellegrini and Jérôme Onguéné are absent due to injury.
Marseille are without the suspended Chancel Mbemba after the defender was sent off against Spurs.
One to watch: Mattéo Guendouzi
Like team-mates Kolasinac and Nuno Tavares, Guendouzi joined Marseille from Premier League side Arsenal. The 23-year-old Frenchman, who is now in his second season with Olympique and has already developed into a key player for the club, has also spent time in the Bundesliga with Hertha BSC.
- Guendouzi was directly involved in 12 league goals for Marseille last term (four goals, eight assists) and has already provided two assists this season
- The midfielder made 24 Bundesliga appearances for Hertha in 2020/21, scoring twice
- Guendouzi has also appeared in 57 Premier League games, 53 Ligue 1 matches and 32 European encounters
- The six-time France international was part of the Les Blues squad that won the UEFA Nations League in 2021. He also lifted the FA Cup with Arsenal in 2020.
Head-to-head
These two sides faced each other in the UEFA Europa League group stage in 2018/19. Eintracht won 2-1 away from home before cruising to a 4-0 victory in Frankfurt.
Key battle: Kristijan Jakic vs. Nuno Tavares
Kristijan Jakic started Eintracht’s game against Sporting Clube de Portugal at right-back. If the 25-year-old keeps his place on the right side of defence against Marseille, he is likely to come face to face with Tavares. The 22-year-old Portuguese, who joined the club from Arsenal in the summer, is a left-back by trade but has taken on a more attacking role in Tudor’s 3-4-2-1 system. The eight-time U21 international has already scored three Ligue 1 goals this season and has appeared in every game so far.
