John Murray
Commentator on BBC Radio 5 Live

In this city it's being described as the game of the year. It's a must win game for Marseille and a must not lose game for Spurs.

Tottenham need at least a draw to go through. Liverpool have to win big to top their group.

Both games are under way.

Pat Nevin
Former Scotland winger on BBC Radio 5 Live

Football is full of what ifs and Spurs have had two or three in this groups stage already. It's an important start and they need a fast start. They're going to need to try and block out the noise but it will be difficult.

Image source, Getty Images

There will be some familiar faces on show for Napoli tonight for Premier League fans.

In midfield, the Italians have ex-Fulham man Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa, who has started every game thus far this season.

Former Tottenham man (and still their record signing) Tanguy Ndombele is also amongst their midfield ranks, looking to rehabilitate his career following his dire time in north London.

If you need a heads up on the real dangermen, look no further than Georgian forward Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who has hit the ground running in spectacular style after landing in Italy in the summer.

Having scored and assisted a goal on his debut, he now has eight goals from 16 appearances, two of which have come in his four Champions League games.

He's not the only goal threat, though, with the club having shared round scoring duties this season. Victor Osimhen has eight to his name, Giovanni Simeone has six, Giacomo Raspadori five and Piotr Zielinski and Matteo Politano four each.

Image source, .

Matt Burns, The Boy Hotspur, external

Tottenham are marginal favourites to win away at Marseille on Tuesday and win they must in order to remain masters of their own destiny.

Marseille have won just once in their past five Ligue 1 games.

Spurs remain third in the Premier League after an added-time winner against Bournemouth at the weekend.

Conte’s contract expires at the end of the season and, while speculation is rife, the smart money has to be on the Italian waiting to see what the January transfer window yields.

English winter windows are rarely seminal for anyone, but it is of note that Daniel Levy broke with tradition last January and the acquisitions of Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski were comparatively exceptional.

Should Spurs be at least able to replicate that class of business, then surely Antonio would be inclined to extend his existing deal. However, should the coming window prove less than inspiring, then the hunt for the next incumbent doesn’t bear thinking about.

• This will be the eighth meeting between Liverpool and Napoli in Europe, with the Italian side edging the Reds 3-2 in victories so far. After their win in this season’s reverse fixture, Napoli could beat Liverpool in consecutive games for the first time.
• Liverpool have lost their past two games against Italian sides in the Champions League, both this year (1-0 v Inter Milan in March and 4-1 at Napoli in September).
• Mohamed Salah has scored 42 goals in the Champions League, the second most by an African player. He would need to score twice in this match in order to draw level with Didier Drogba (44).
• Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson could both make their 50th Champions League appearances for Liverpool in this game. Alexander-Arnold, 24, would become the youngest player to reach that mark for the club.

Last week Harry Kane thought he had fired Spurs into the last 16 with an injury-time winner against Sporting Lisbon.

But it was disallowed by VAR for a very heavily disputed offside call - meaning Spurs need a result in France tonight.

And they will have to do so without manager Antonio Conte, who was sent off for his angry reaction last week.

He has to watch from the stands tonight.

Jordan Chamberlain, Empire of the Kop, external

The seven highest paid players in Liverpool’s history started against Leeds United on Saturday.

There are obviously injuries, but the Reds are still fielding multiple world-class players yet putting in abysmal performances.

No team in Premier League history has lost to the team in 20th in consecutive weekends, but Liverpool managed that against Jesse Marsch's side, having failed at Nottingham Forest last weekend.

Some blame has to go into the lack of succession planning when Jurgen Klopp's Reds were at their peak. Then, sporting director Michael Edwards handed out big, bumper contracts to Alisson, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Fabinho and Jordan Henderson, that will tie them to the club well into their thirties.

Half that list of players look over the hill, sadly, but will still be earning the enormous sums we could have perhaps spent more smartly on younger, healthier, hungrier players.

Now, the club needs to work out how it can finance a rebuild while still paying the supposed superstars already on long-term deals.

Perhaps Klopp and the board have been too loyal to too many and they've simply grown old and ran themselves into the ground, together.

Liverpool's tally of 16 points marks their worst points return after 12 games since Klopp took charge of the club in 2015, with successive defeats by strugglers Nottingham Forest and Leeds leaving the club 15 points adrift of leaders Arsenal and eight off a top-four spot.

Klopp's current starting XI also has one of the oldest average ages in the English top flight, with the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Thiago Alcantara and Jordan Henderson, all 30 or over.

The German and Liverpool's owners have faced criticism this term for not doing more to rejuvenate a squad that went close to an unprecedented quadruple of trophies last term.

But Klopp claims a series of injuries to key players means it is unfair to make any judgement on his squad or his own position until the end of the season.

"I think the judgement for this should come later on in the season, or maybe at the end," Klopp added.

"If you say 'that's it' for this group of players or for this manager I don't think that's 100% fair in this moment, to judge the team or the squad, because we never had them available.

"We miss players, especially now up front, we miss top quality, which is not helpful.

"Even if it's unfair, it's fine. It's normal, it's our life and it's absolutely fair to ask these questions. But we have to answer that later on."

Pat Nevin
Former Scotland winger on BBC Radio 5 Live

We talk about Liverpool as one of the the great teams. There's been games they've been great. I was at the West Ham game and thought they were brilliant in the first half and not so brilliant in the second half. They've not been able to keep it going. I don't think they can do the 4-3-3 system anymore.

Kelly Cates
Sports Presenter

It's a similar starting XI that Igor Tudor has been using. With all that talent what is not clicking for Marseille? There's a lot at stake on Tudor tonight.

A good chunk of Marseille's players used to play in the Premier League, including ex-Arsenal quartet Alexis Sanchez, Matteo Guendouzi, Nuno Tavares and Sead Kolasinac.

"Beating Spurs every time was a great joy. It was very special and those are memories that I hold dear to my heart," said Sanchez, who also played under Conte at Inter Milan.

"Every single player has motivation to play and win. We all want to bring the victory back."

Image source, Reuters

Atletico Madrid are out of Europe before Christmas for the first time since 2010-11.

Their 2-1 defeat at Porto means they finish bottom of Group B.

Porto win the group, with Club Bruges - who drew 0-0 with Bayer Leverkusen - finishing second.

Leverkusen go into the Europa League.

• Marseille and Tottenham’s only previous meeting in Europe came earlier this season, with Spurs winning 2-0.
• Spurs have played away from home against French sides on six previous occasions in European competition without winning (D4 L2). The only one of these games that came in the Champions League was in November 2016 - a 2-1 defeat by Monaco.
• Tottenham have won only two of their past eight Champions League matches (D2 L4). They preceded these games with a run of three straight victories during the 2019-20 group stages.
• Spurs have failed to score in their past three away Champions League matches. The last Premier League side to go on a longer such run was Manchester United between October 2004 and November 2005 (five games – a record for an English club).

Ahead of this game, Jurgen Klopp has said being Liverpool manager is not just about "when the sun is shining" as he dismissed suggestions his squad is in decline.

As we know, the Reds host Napoli tonight having already qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League.

However, they have struggled in the Premier League and sit ninth after winning only four of their opening 12 matches.

"It's not a quick fix but we will not stop fighting," Klopp said.

"People look at me and they say 'he looks tired' or whatever but I'm not. I cannot give that excuse. My job is not only to be here when the sun is shining and somebody gives us a trophy.

"My job is to be there when we go through a really rough period and I will do that with all I have."

BBC World Service

Former Tottenham defender Ramon Vega speaking to BBC World Service's Sport Today programme: "Antonio Conte's flamboyant way and jumping up and down on the sidelines will be missed. The players on the bench feel that kind of passion.

"The players have an enormous job to do and they need to be professional.

"Marseille will be a very difficult opponent. It's an extremely hostile place. The Spurs players need to be mentally strong and determined to win."