Marseille vs. Liverpool: Head-to-head record and past meetings before Champions League clash

Bidding for a second straight Champions League win and a 13th successive match without defeat, Liverpool head south to tackle Marseille in Wednesday's penultimate league-phase contest.

The Reds are only outside the automatic last-16 places on goals scored after taking down Inter Milan 1-0 on matchday six, but their shooting boots eluded them in Saturday's 1-1 Premier League draw with Burnley.

Meanwhile, Roberto De Zerbi's Marseille have prevailed in each of their last two European matches - not since 2010-11 have they won three on the spin - and the hosts also thumped Angers 5-2 in league action at the weekend.

Here, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between the two sides.

Head-to-head record

Previous meetings: 6

Marseille wins: 2

Draws: 1

Liverpool wins: 3

All six competitive meetings between Liverpool and Marseille have taken place in the 21st century, and the Reds just about lead the head-to-head record with three wins compared to Les Olympiens' two.

Liverpool failed to triumph in any of their first three clashes with the Ligue 1 outfit, but they prevailed in three on the spin from December 2007 to November 2008, all at Europe's top table.

The two clubs collided in the group stage of both the 2007-08 and 2008-09 Champions League tournaments, the former of which saw Marseille shock Liverpool at Anfield with a 1-0 win thanks to Mathieu Valbuena's effort.

However, Rafael Benitez's men avenged that upset with a 4-0 thumping on Marseille's turf in December 2007, courtesy of strikes from Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel.

The Premier League titans would return to the Velodrome just nine months later and repeat their trick, albeit with a less emphatic scoreline, as Gerrard netted twice after a Lorik Cana opener to seal a 2-1 win.

Benitez's side then made it three consecutive victories over Les Olympiens in November 2008, when - you guessed it - Gerrard came up with the decisive moment in a 1-0 home success.

Before colliding in the Champions League, Liverpool and Marseille first crossed paths in the 2003-04 UEFA Cup last 16, when the Olympiens held the Reds to a 1-1 Anfield draw in the first leg courtesy of a Didier Drogba equaliser.

Two weeks later, Drogba was on target again as Marseille triumphed 2-1 to reach the quarter-finals, before being slain by Valencia in the showpiece match.