Tottenham vs Marseille prediction: EUROPE: Champions League – Group Stage betting tips on match 2022-09-06 19:00.
Tottenham manager Antonio Conte refused to acknowledge that his side were handed a favourable UEFA Champions League (UCL) group stage draw, describing it as “the toughest competition in the world regardless of who participates”. However it’s little wonder that he thinks this tournament is tough, as Conte has never progressed beyond the UCL group stage as a manager, but a solid start to Tottenham’s Premier League (PL) campaign (W4, D2) could prove to be the catalyst to lay to rest the demons of their group stage dumping from the UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL) last season.
After six consecutive PL victories at home, what better time for Spurs to return to Europe’s top footballing tournament than now. When considering their strong 78% win rate at home (W7, L2) across their last three group stages in all UEFA competitions, compared with just 22% away from home (W2, D3, L4), anything short of a solid home campaign won’t be accepted by Conte.
Also undefeated in 2022/23, Marseille have collected more points in their first six league fixtures (W5, D1) than in any season since 2012/13. Marseille should feel well placed to challenge Spurs as group winners and notably reached the UECL semi-finals last season, so it perhaps comes as no surprise that manager Igor Tudor feels Marseille are ready.
Encouragingly for Tudor, Marseille’s current unbeaten domestic record has been earned whilst giving at least 100 minutes to 19 separate players, highlighting the strength-in-depth at his disposal. Travelling has long been an issue however, with Marseille failing to win a group stage away trip in UEFA’s two highest tiers (D4, L8) in more than five years, despite reaching the Europa League semi-finals in 2017/18!
Players to watch: Spurs striker Harry Kane has hit his straps early with four goalscoring appearances from his last five starts, three of which saw him score after half-time. As well as goals in two of his last three league games, Marseille’s Alexis Sánchez netted in three of his last seven appearances of at least 45 minutes against Tottenham for any club.
Hot stat: Tottenham’s last four group stages in all UEFA competitions have produced an average of at least three total goals per game.