Panathinaikos v Marseille

Panathinaikos vs Marseille Preview

Wednesday night brings us the 1st legs of the 3rd Qualifying Round of the Champions League and features this upcoming contest between Greek club, Panathinaikos, and French visitors, Marseille, when the two teams meet at the Stadio Apóstolos Nikolaidis.

Panathinaikos finished top of the Greek Super League at the end of the domestic regular season but they were ultimately overtaken by AEK Athens into top spot of the Championship Round group and had to make do with second place.

Nevertheless, this meant that Panathinaikos qualified for the qualifying rounds of this season's Champions League where they entered the competition in the 2nd Qualifying Round where they came up against Ukrainian club, Dnipro-1.

An impressive 3-1 win away in the 1st leg in Ukraine set the Greek outfit on their way and they closed out the tie with a 2-2 draw on home soil to win the tie 5-3 on aggregate, and having lost just twice in their last 25 matches in all competitions, the Greek hosts will be in confident mood ahead of this crucial 1st leg tie on Wednesday night.

Marseille achieved a creditable third-place finish at the end of last season's French Ligue 1 campaign which earned them with a place in this 3rd Qualifying Round of this season's Champions League as the visitors held what proved to be an important five-point buffer above fourth-placed Rennes.

Marseille lost each of their last three league matches at the end of last season and their subsequent four pre-season friendlies have produced a mixed bag of results as they have picked up wins against Nimes and RKC Waalwijk but have also slipped to defeats at the hands of Eupen and Bayer Leverkusen as well.

Indeed, after having done most of the heavy work earlier in the season, Marseille will now head into this new campaign having lost six out of their last nine matches in all competitions so it may be best to steer clear of the straight win markets for this upcoming clash, especially Marseille!

Having also lost four of their last five outings on the road overall, Marseille may well be happy with a draw in Greece on Wednesday night.

Panathinaikos v Marseille Verdict

Six of Panathinaikos' last 10 home games in all competitions have resulted in both teams scoring, while Marseille's last 10 away games in all competitions have also resulted with both teams hitting the back of the net on six occasions as well.

Panathinaikos and Marseille have never met before in any competitive match but both teams at least look capable of scoring in this 1st leg which Marseille may not be looking forward to, having lost 10 out of their last 11 away ties in the Champions League.

Therefore, our main bet will be Both Teams To Score Yes @ 1.80

Other side bets worth considering:

Draw @ 3.25

Correct score: 1-1 @ 6.50