Marseille starts its 2023-24 campaign with an away trip to Athens, facing Panathinaikos in a Champions League qualifier. The team is looking to make a winning start to a new era.
Bookmaker William Hill is offering odds at 2.40 for Marseille to win the game and there being at least two goals scored. The odds are at 3.10 for three or more goals and an away victory.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: August 8th, 9:30 A.M. (EST)
For Marseille, this season will be the first since 2015-16 without Dimitri Payet. The enigmatic star became only a bit-part player last term and left the club in July despite having one more year left on his contract.
OM has also ushered in a new era with a €70 million spending spree over the summer. Additionally, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has arrived on a free transfer, hoping to reignite his career in France after spending a miserable season with Chelsea.
Aubameyang’s reputation has taken a big hit in recent years, and he’s not getting any younger either, but the Gabon star is only a season removed from hitting 11 goals in 17 league appearances for Barcelona. His addition could be a major coup for Marseille if Aubameyang returns to form this season.
It will be up to new manager Marcelino to find the best way to accommodate Aubameyang. The Spaniard has taken charge after Igor Tudor walked away from the job, citing “private and professional reasons”. Marcelino has had a fairly hectic coaching career, but he typically starts out well with clubs, and considering the chaos surrounding PSG, Marseille fans have plenty of reasons to be excited ahead of the new campaign.
Panathinaikos already has one round of Champions League action under its belt, having beaten Ukraine’s Dnipro 5-3 on aggregate. The team battled out an impressive 3-1 away victory in the first leg and completed the job at home with a 2-2 draw. Slovenian forward Andraz Sporar led the charge with three goals across the two games, and Marseille definitely has to keep a close eye on him to avoid Dnipro’s fate.
It’s been 13 years since the last time Panathinaikos won the Greek championships but the club is trending up again under Serbian manager Ivan Jovanovic. After landing the job in June 2021, Jovanovic has lost only 17 of 88 matches in charge of Panathinaikos. There have been 51 victories under him, and adding another to the tally on Wednesday could be crucial in a tough two-legged match-up against a top team.
