Olympique Marseille and Arsenal look to put their mediocre domestic form behind
them as they gear up for a potentially decisive Champions League clash at the
Stade Velodrome on Wednesday.

Marseille, the 1993 champions, have won
only one Ligue 1 game this season although they lead Champions League Group F
with six points from two games, having crushed Borussia Dortmund 3-0 in their
previous match.

Arsenal, who have yet to win the Champions League, are
second on four points in the group and lie 10th in the Premier League standings
having had trouble adjusting after Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas left during the
off-season.

Victory would give Marseille a perfect record midway through
the group phase. Didier Deschamps's side, however, will need to improve
dramatically from their dull Ligue 1 displays if they are to challenge the
Londoners.

Marseille, 15th in the French league, drew 0-0 at Toulouse at
the weekend and have not won a league match in almost a month.

"I don't
want to be too pessimistic (about our situation)," Deschamps told the club's
website (www.om.net). "I'm aware of the difficulties we are facing but we are
working on that and we are trying to build some confidence."

Arsenal can
empathise with their rivals' predicament.

"Marseille is a good team but
they are under pressure a little bit like we are in the league because they
didn't start as strong as they would have expected," said Arsenal coach Arsene
Wenger.

"That puts more pressure on you. They have done well in the
Champions League, certainly, because it is a competition where there is a bit
less expectation and they are less under pressure."



RENEWED
OPTIMISM

Although Arsenal won 2-1 against Sunderland on Sunday their
performance was far from convincing and owed a great deal to an outstanding
performance from Dutchman Robin van Persie who scored twice -- the first time
after only 29 seconds, the second from a brilliant free kick -- to give Arsenal
only their third league win of the season.

The three points moved them
up five places in the table, which gave Wenger renewed cause for optimism.


"We have now won five games on the run at home," the Frenchman said.


"I think the attitude and spirit of the team is great. The motivation is
there, the quality is there, so slowly we are getting better."

The
Gunners' injury problems have deepened, however, with defender Kieran Gibbs and
midfielder Aaron Ramsey joining the already lengthy list of absentees.


Ramsey missed Sunday's game with a hamstring injury while Gibbs was
replaced by Andre Santos five minutes into the second half after suffering a
stomach injury.

Arsenal are already without defenders Thomas Vermaelen
and Bacary Sagna while Laurent Koscielny and Johan Djourou have only just
returned from injury.

Wenger, back in the dugout after his two-match
Champions League suspension against Borussia Dortmund and Olympiakos, told
reporters: "Gibbs has an inflammation of his stomach muscles and only has a
small chance of playing on Wednesday.

"Ramsey has a small chance of
being in the squad. He had fatigue of his hamstring. I wanted to give him a
breather -- it would have been a gamble to play him."

Marseille are
still waiting for striker Andre-Pierre Gignac to find his rhythm after a
below-par start to the season because of poor preparation.

"He's been
training normally for a week but he has been out for quite some time and he
needs time to get back to his best," said assistant coach Guy Stephan.


Teams:

Olympique Marseille: 30-Steve Mandanda; 2-Cesar
Azpilicueta, 21-Souleymane Diawara, 3-Nicolas N'koulou, 12-Charles Kabore;
4-Alou Diarra, 8-Lucho Gonzalez, 7-Benoit Cheyrou, 28-Mathieu Valbuena, 20-Andre
Ayew; 11-Loic Remy.

Arsenal (possible): 13-Wojciech Szczesny; 25-Carl
Jenkinson, 4-Per Mertesacker, 6-Laurent Koscielny, 11-Andre Santos; 8-Mikel
Arteta, 17-Alex Song, 7-Tomas Rosicky, 14-Theo Walcott; 10-Robin van Persie,
22-Gervinho.