Liverpool, Arsenal and Premier League rivals' dream and nightmare Champions League draws

The Premier League is two games old and now attention will turn to the Champions League, with the draw taking place on Thursday.

There is a heavy English presence in the competition this season, with Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Newcastle and Tottenham among the 36 teams in the draw. It will be the second season of the new Champions League format, with four-team groups gone in favour of a longer league phase.

The draw takes place on Thursday, August 28 at 5pm BST following the conclusion of the final play-offs on Wednesday evening. Teams are placed into four pots based on UEFA’s coefficient to determine their eight matches against eight different sides, which will be played between September and January.

UEFA’s rules mean that the Premier League sides cannot face each other in the league phase of the competition and each side can only play a maximum of two teams from a different association to keep the variety. There are guaranteed to be some tasty fixtures, with each side handed matches against two sides from each pot.

Here Mirror Football takes a look at the four pots and considers the dream and nightmare scenarios for the English clubs involved.

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Pot 1

Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona

Pot 2

Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Villarreal, Juventus, Eintracht Frankfurt, Benfica*, Club Brugge*

Pot 3

Tottenham, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, Napoli, Sporting Lisbon, Olympiacos, Slavia Prague, Bodo/Glimt, Marseille

Pot 4

Monaco, Pafos, Galatasaray, Kairat Almaty, Union Saint-Gilloise, Athletic Club, Newcastle, Copenhagen*, Ferencvaros*

*subject to move, with four other places still up for grabs in the play-offs

Arsenal

The Gunners reached the semi-finals last season after a strong showing, but are in Pot 2, having been ranked 15th in UEFA’s coefficient.

Mikel Arteta’s side did well in the league phase last season, finishing third with six wins from their eight matches, but will hope to avoid PSG, who had their number in the semi-final, winning both legs on their way to lifting the trophy. Inter were the only side to beat Arsenal in the league phase, so they are another side to perhaps avoid from Pot 1.

By contrast, Arsenal had Real Madrid’s number in the knockout stages last season, winning both quarter-final legs. Arteta will fancy Dortmund, who look the weakest side in Pot 1. PSV are another team they’ll want, having scored nine goals across two legs against the Dutch side last season.

Liverpool

Arne Slot’s side are fifth in the UEFA coefficient, putting them in Pot 1 with the big-hitters. They breezed the league phase last season, winning their opening seven matches to top the table despite losing the final match.

Liverpool were disappointed to be knocked out on a penalty shoot-out in the last-16 by PSG and will be aiming to go further this time around.

A match against Real Madrid would be packed full of narrative after Trent Alexander-Arnold ’s departure and with Xabi Alonso now in charge. The Reds thrashed Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 last season and have signed their two best players, Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong since, so would be happy to face them. In truth, beyond PSG there are no bogey sides for Liverpool, who will be one of the favourites.

Manchester City

City struggled massively in the Champions League last season, finishing 22nd in the league phase with just three wins from their eight games. They were beaten by Sporting, Juventus and PSG and were held to draws by Inter and Feyenoord before being knocked out by Real Madrid.

Pep Guardiola's side will be keen to avoid Real and PSG in the draw, while Atletico Madrid appear the toughest of the Pot 2 options. They should expect to steamroller the Pot 3 and Pot 4 opponents, given their squad depth.

Chelsea

The Blues are back in the big time after a two-season absence after winning the Conference League in style last season. Enzo Maresca’s side have been placed in Pot 1, despite sitting 14th in the UEFA coefficient rankings, which is a nice start to the competition.

Chelsea showed they can mix it with the best by beating PSG 3-0 in the Club World Cup final over the summer, but they would perhaps prefer to play Dortmund and Inter from Pot 1.

With Kairat Almaty in the Champions League this year, there will be some familiar Conference League vibes for them to make them feel at home.

Newcastle

The Magpies come in a lowly 85th in the UEFA coefficient and are therefore in Pot 4 and bracing themselves for some challenging fixtures. But they have been here before and made a good go of it back in the 2023/24 season, the highlight being a 4-1 win over PSG.

But it was tougher going against Milan and Dortmund and after a difficult summer in the transfer window, it will be an uphill battle this time around. The fans will be relishing some big fixtures, but Eddie Howe may want to avoid German champions Bayern Munich and Spanish champions Barcelona.

Tottenham

Spurs are back in the Champions League thanks to their 1-0 win over Manchester United in the Europa League final. Having finished 17th last season in the Premier League, Thomas Frank will have a job on his hands this season in Europe.

Back in the competition for the first time in two and a half seasons, they are currently slated to be in Pot 3 so are due some tough tasks. Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are to be avoided, but the league format gives them a decent chance of qualifying for the knockout stages.

Matchday 1: September 16-17, 2025

Matchday 2: September 30-October 1, 2025

Matchday 3: October 21-22, 2025

Matchday 4: November 4-5, 2025

Matchday 5: November 25-26, 2025

Matchday 6: December 9-10, 2025

Matchday 7: January 20-21, 2026

Matchday 8: January 28, 2026

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