Preview: Marseille vs. Arsenal

Arsenal will attempt to open their Champions League Group F campaign with three points when they travel to French outfit Marseille on Wednesday.

The Gunners drew the short straw when the group stages were announced with Arsene Wenger's side drawn alongside Marseille, Napoli and Borussia Dortmund.

Marseille, who did not feature in last season's competition, will enter the match full of confidence following a positive start to their league season, with 10 points from five games leaving them in fourth position in the table.

Meanwhile, Arsenal lost on the opening weekend of the season against Aston Villa, but have since recovered with wins over Fulham, Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland. They also booked their spot in the group stages of the Champions League with a 6-1 aggregate success over Fenerbahce in the playoffs.

The Premier League outfit have also enjoyed recent success in Marseille, with a 1-0 win in the group stages of the 2011-12 campaign. However, the French side did claim a point in a 0-0 draw in London at the beginning of November 2011.

The hosts have no fresh injury concerns ahead of the match and could name the same lineup that drew with Toulouse in the league at the weekend. However, Jordan Ayew and Saber Khlifa are both pushing for recalls.

Mathieu Valbuena will once more occupy a wide area for the French outfit, while former Premier League target Andre-Pierre Gignac is expected to lead their line.

Arsenal, however, will be without the services of Santi Cazorla, who has been ruled out of action until October with an ankle problem. The Gunners are also sweating on the fitness of Olivier Giroud, but the in-form striker should be fit to lead the line.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky remain on the sidelines, but German defender Per Mertesacker should be fit to return to the centre of the defence after missing the trip to Sunderland through illness.

Recent form

Marseille: WWWLD

Arsenal: WWWWW

Possible starting lineups

Marseille: Mandanda; N'Koulou, Lucas, Morel, Fanni; Thauvin, Romao, Wanga, Valbuena; Gignac, Payet

Arsenal: Szczesny; Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs; Ramsey, Wilshere, Flamini; Ozil, Giroud, Walcott

Sports Mole says: 1-2