Arsenal will hope to leapfrog Marseille into top spot in Group F when they travel to the Stade Velodrome in the Champions League.
Gunners looking to overthrow French giants
Arsenal will be hoping to leapfrog Marseille into top spot in Group F when they travel to the Stade Velodrome in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday night.
The Gunners have endured a disappointing start to their domestic campaign but remain unbeaten on the continent having drawn their opening encounter at Borussia Dortmund before beating Olympiakos at home last time out.
French giants Marseille have gone one better, winning both of their group games so far to sit two points clear in pole position, while they are yet to concede a goal.
Their Ligue 1 form has been less imposing, with Didier Deschamps' men currently 15th in the standings having won just one of their opening 10 league encounters.
Their torrid start means Marseille will be under pressure to perform against their North London visitors in front of a home crowd on Wednesday.
The clash will mark the first meeting between the two sides, although the hosts are no strangers to English opposition, having exited the tournament at the hands of Manchester United at the round of 16 stage last year.
They also faced Arsenal's London rivals Chelsea in the group stage last season, winning 1-0 at the Stade Velodrome before going down 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.
The last time the Gunners travelled to France in the competition was in 2002/03, when they beat Auxerre 1-0 in the group stage.
Arsene Wenger's men visit Marseille on the back of a heartening 2-1 victory over Sunderland in the Premier League at the weekend which lifted them into the top half of the table.
Team news
Wenger will be without Kieran Gibbs for the trip to France after the left-back picked up a stomach muscle strain early in the second half against Sunderland.
The only other players missing are long-term absentees Jack Wilshere, Thomas Vermaelen and Abou Diaby (all ankle), Bacary Sagna (broken leg) and Sebastien Squillaci (calf).
Midfielder Aaron Ramsey returns to the squad having managed to shrug off a minor hamstring injury.
Rod Fanni and Jordan Ayew will miss the clash for Marseille due to suspensions.
Benoit Cheyrou (hamstring) and Andre-Pierre Gignac (groin) could feature after shaking off knocks to face Toulouse in last weekend's goalless draw.
Stephane Mbia and Djimi Traore remain sidelined with foot injuries.
