Marseille Preview: Get On Your Bike At The Vélodrome

Manchester United kickoff their involvement in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 with a trip to Stade Vélodrome to take on Olympique de Marseille.

Will Fergie Start Smalling Against OM?

The Reds come into the match on the heels of a unconvincing 1-0 win over Crawley Town in the FA Cup, but Sir Alex Ferguson will more than likely name a significantly different side to face the reigning French Ligue 1 champions.

Although United is the odds-on favorite to advance from this even encounter, and after witnessing the results from the other Round of 16 matches, Marseille will be full of confidence that they can pull off an upset of three-time European winners.

Despite of popular belief, there really is little doubt that this tie has the billings to be the most tightly contested two-legged in this round, because of the quality of players both clubs possess at both ends of the pitch.

Since their somewhat shocking 1-0 win over Chelsea at the Vélodrome on December 8, Marseille have only lost once - a 3-1 setback to Evian Thonon Gaillar in the Coupe de France, which is the French equivalent to the FA Cup.

About
Tied with Arsenal, Olympique de Marseille had the most points by any second-placed team with 12, and their +9 goal differential was good enough for seventh out of all of the 32 teams that competed in the Champions League Group stage this season.

With their four clean sheets in their group, Marseille was tied for second for the most - only behind Real Madrid and United's five, so they will be very well organized when they come up against Reds' attack.

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On top of admitting that he was the man of choice to become the Liverpool boss last summer, but denied them based purely on principal, Marseille's manager, Didier Deschamps, stated that United are very solid defensively, but he has find some kinks in their armor, which he secretively plans to exploit.

In his short managerial career, Deschamps has already done a respectable job replicating his successful playing career by leading AS Monaco to the 2004 UEFA Champions League Final, as well as enjoying the instant success he has had with OM.

Marseille, on an eight-game unbeaten run in Ligue 1, are currently in third place, but they are facing an intense title race, which see the top five teams separate by just four points.

The reason for their success has been on the defensive end, and their backline is anchored by a former United fan-favorite.

Who
Gabriel Heinze will be sure to get a rowdy reception for the way he tried force a transfer to play for Liverpool, but that was never going to happen, so Ferguson sent him off to Real Madrid, instead.

Since Deschamps has promised not to sit back and let United dictate the play, the French champions have a host of offensive-minded players -

Lucho González, Loïc Remy, Brandão should all play a significant role in Deschamps game plan against the Reds, but Andre-Pierre Gignac is set to miss out after he picked up an injury in their most recent win.

Because of their current injury problem, Lucho should be partnered with the highly-touted youngster, Remy, in the Marseille attack.

Taye Taiwo, who serves as the club's vice captain behind their goalkeeper, Steve Mandanda, is a very powerful full-back, so United will have to be very aware of his positive runs forward to aid the Marseille attack.

News
The best news that United could have hope for came as Patrice Evra, who played under Deschamps at Monaco, signed a long-term contract to remain with United.

In preparation for this match, Sir Alex rested a lot of his first-choice players, but with the growing list of unwanted injured players, the Gaffer might be forced to play some of his fringe players.

The trip to the south coast of France will see no fewer than seven first team players miss the match with Marseille, so Sir Alex will be looking to youth players to hold up their end of the bargain.

Marseille floods the midfield with players, so it will be interesting to see if Ferguson decides to go with his preferred European 4-5-1 formation, or goes with both Dimitar Berbatov and Wayne Rooney in the attack.

This is not going to be a walk in the park for Manchester United at the Stade Vélodrome, but the Reds certainly have the ability and class to overcome the stern test that Olympique de Marseille will surely offer.

Squad
T. Kuszczak, A. Lindegaard, E. van der Sar; W. Brown, P. Evra, Fabio, J. O'Shea, Rafael, C. Smalling, N. Vidic; Bebe, M. Carrick, D. Fletcher, D. Gibson, Nani, G. Obertan, P. Scholes, R. Tunnicliffe; D. Berbatov, J. Hernandez, J. King, W. Rooney

Treatment
Out: A. Valencia (leg), O. Hargreaves (hamstring), Anderson (knee), R. Ferdinand (calf), J. S. Park (hamstring); Doubtful: J. Evans (leg), Rafael (thigh), M. Owen (groin)

Projected
E. van der Sar; J. O'Shea, C. Smalling, N. Vidic, P. Evra; D. Gibson, P. Scholes, D. Fletcher, Nani; W. Rooney, D. Berbatov

Prediction
Olympique de Marseille 1 Manchester United 2