Bayer Leverkusen will hope to continue their winning start in Europe when they host Marseille on Thursday. The French club lost all the first three games in the competition, although their results improved in the league since the start of last month.
In contrast, Carles Martinez's side lost back-to-back Bundesliga games by conceding seven goals to Hoffenheim and Stuttgart. Leverkusen's inconsistent league form saw them dropped to sixth place, although they're only five points behind FC Bayern and Borussia Dortmund.
Marseille won four successive Ligue 1 matches after their narrow Le Classique defeat to the all-conquering PSG side. This will be the first competitive fixture between the clubs, but they met multiple times in friendlies, including Leverkusen's win at Velodrome three years ago.
Leverkusen have won seven of their 15 meetings against French clubs, but they lost 7-2 to PSG at BayArena in last season's Champions League campaign. This is the first time they face a team from Europe's top-five leagues in the league phase of the Europa League this term.
The last time Marseille faced a German club they lost to Eintracht Frankfurt home and away in the group stage of the 2022/23 Champions League. Bruno Genesio's side failed to score against Olympiacos and Sturm Graz after starting their European campaign with a heavy defeat at Besiktas.
Team News
Summer signings Moussa Diaby and Guela Doue remain on the sidelines as Martinez could field a strong side because of several long-term absentees. Janis Blaswich will hope to keep his place between the sticks after replacing Mark Flekken for the recent European game against OFI Crete.
Loic Bade and Nathan Tella will hope to make their returns to the matchday squad for Leverkusen. It'll be a special game for Argentine international Facundo Medina as he faces the club he left in the summer.
Former OM captain Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Amine Harit had previous Bundesliga spells. Experienced defender Emerson is a doubt for Marseille after his early substitution against Martinez's former club Toulouse on Sunday.
Leverkusen:Flekken; Quansah, Medina, Tapsoba ©, Gutierrez; Fernandez, Garcia; Hofmann, Maza, Moreira; Schick
OM:De Lange; Weah ©, Egan-Riley, Aguerd, Garcia; Nnadi, Hojbjerg, Abdelli; Harit, Gouiri, Paixao
