Summary

What are Man Utd's expectations this season?

Live Reporting

Written by Sam Drury, Holly Bacon & Adwaidh Rajan.

  1. Get Involved - What do you make of English clubs in Europe?

    Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say

    The Premier League is the wealthiest of all the European leagues, given the money the PL generate, elite English clubs are able to attract the very best European players, this is being reflected by the number of PL clubs in the top 10 of the Champions League.

    Buster, Gateshead

    PSG and Bayern are the standard. Real Madrid and Barca also navigate this competition every season. Get past them and you have a good chance of lifting the trophy. The PL is much more competitive than the other domestic leagues as well and that is a factor.

    Adrian, Lincs

  2. Mikel ArtetaGetty Images

    Opta's prediction has us wondering whether Arsenal have what it takes to go all the way on multiple fronts - what with the supercomputer also making them favourites for the Premier League this season!

    So do you think they can finally win that elusive Champions League? Or is it going to be a European heavyweight or perhaps another English club who could do it?

    Liverpool and Manchester City will be keen to put their recent domestic troubles behind with a strong run in Europe while Chelsea have some knockout stage experience having won the Conference League and Club World Cup recently.

    Or could Newcastle or Tottenham spring a surprise?

    Get Involved using the tab at the top of this page!

  3. Get Involved - 'Fair enough in the later rounds'

    Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say

    The beauty of qualifying for Europe is to play sides you've not played against for years, we play the likes of Man Utd and Liverpool enough in the league. Fair enough in the later rounds.

    Paul, Leigh

    I think the fairest way to deal with six sides from the same country not being able to play each other is that the two extra spots (coefficient additional place and EL winners) are fair game to be drawn against anyone, but the standard domestic qualifiers remain segregated.

    Jamie, London

  4. What are Opta's predictions for English clubs?

    Champions League

    lexis Mac Allister of Liverpool celebrates scoring his team's first goal with teammate Hugo EkitikeGetty Images

    Opta's supercomputer predicts four of the six Premier League clubs to finish in the top eight in the league phase and book a direct berth in the last 16 of the Champions League.

    Meanwhile, the two other English sides are predicted to finish not too far behind to progress to the knockout phase play-offs.

    Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and Newcastle are expected to go through without the need of play-offs, with the Gunners projected to finish at the top of the standings with about 20 points.

    Pep Guardiola's City are expected to finish third behind Bayern Munich with 18 points with Liverpool in fourth place. Newcastle, meanwhile, are predicted to squeeze through in eighth place.

    Tottenham and Chelsea are predicted to finish 10th and 11th respectively to make it to the play-offs.

    In terms of winning the trophy, Opta have Arsenal favourites this season with 23.53% of simulations picking Mikel Arteta's side as European champions, followed by German champions Bayern Munich (14.33%), City (12.95% and Liverpool (11.27%).

    Chelsea (3.85%), Newcastle (3.49%) and Tottenham (1.28%) are all largely outsiders when it comes to title talk this season.

  5. Get Involved - 'PL dominance is a shame'

    Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say

    I think the steady progression towards Premier League dominance is a shame. It's getting to the point where there are only 3-4 teams in Europe can expect to compete with the English clubs. If the PL replaces Champions League as the most prestigious club competition we'll have lost something special.

    Tom, Belfast

  6. Get Involved - What do you make of English clubs in Europe?

    Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say

    Re Robert @11:16 yes, but those 13 wins for Spanish sides have been shared by only two teams, compared with four different teams from England over the same period. If we go back further, those same two Spanish sides account for all CL wins whereas we see six English teams.

    James, Guildford

  7. 'Should you be able to play teams from the same country in the league phase?'

    John Murray
    BBC football correspondent on Football Daily

    You've got an unprecedented six teams from one country in the Champions League this season. Do we now think there is a possibility that those six could actually finish in the top eight in the table and all qualify automatically for the round of 16?

    I think what it does actually do as well is possibly open a debate, in the league phase teams from the same country can't play each other, should that change? Should you actually be able to play teams from the same country in the league phase?

    I know that if I was in Spain, Germany, France or Italy I'd probably be saying 'yes that should happen'.

  8. Get Involved - What do you make of English clubs in Europe?

    Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say

    It's the competitive Premier League and the fixture management in the end. Other leagues give teams a chance to rest before major matches. Progression is vital to our league, but we will see teams playing Sunday then Champions League on Wednesday. In other leagues they will play Friday.

    Bernard Legair, Brigg

  9. Get Involved - What do you make of English clubs in Europe?

    Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say

    I disagree with Neil from Doncaster [11.06]. The lack of proper winter break in this country, topped with nonsensical scheduling, is the reason foreign teams seem to do better later on in Europe.

    Harry, Kent

  10. English sides excelling in Champions League

    Noel Sliney
    BBC Sport

    Three wins out of three on Tuesday and two wins and a draw last night continued the Champions League dominance by English sides as we approach the halfway point of the league phase.

    Arsenal, Manchester City, Newcastle and Liverpool all occupy one the top-eight places that guarantee automatic qualification for the last 16, with Tottenham and Chelsea just below them in 10th and 12th respectively.

    Teams from England average 2.3 points per game in the Champions League this season, far exceeding any of the other countries with three or more sides in the competition.

    Of the traditional ‘top five’ European nations it is Spain that has accrued the fewest points per game so far, with three of their five sides suffering defeat this week.

    English sides have amassed more points per game than any other nation in the Champions League this season

  11. Get Involved - 'Numbers say England should rule Europe but...'

    Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say

    The numbers say England should rule Europe - the revenues, the win percentages. But a decade of finals says otherwise. Real, Bayern, PSG, Inter, Juve. There’s something in Europe’s football DNA that money can’t manufacture. Maybe just for now…

    Gabriele Lo Giudice, London

  12. Get Involved - What do you make of English clubs in Europe?

    Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say

    Credit to the English teams. It's harder for PL sides to be dominant in the Champions League because there's no easy game in the PL. French, German and Spanish leagues, there's only a number of tough fixtures so they can sometimes rest players before a big CL fixture.

    RP, Lancs

    We had 3 English clubs in the top 8 last season, including 1st and 3rd, so we will see how they all get on when it matters in the knockout stages.

    Dave, London

  13. Can England end Spanish dominance?

    Champions League

    Real Madrid celebrating the victory with the Champions League trophyGetty Images

    Robert has a point there!

    It's not England but Spain and Real Madrid who have dominated the Champions League during the past decade.

    Real alone have won the competition six times since 2013-14, with Spanish clubs winning it five times in a row between 2013 and 2018 as Barcelona joined them with their 2014-15 triumph.

    England has had three winners in Europe in the last 10 years - with Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City emerging victorious, while the Reds were also beaten finalists twice to Real.

    There have also been two all-England finals as Liverpool beat Tottenham 2-0 in 2018-19 and Chelsea edged City 1-0 in 2020-21 under Thomas Tuchel.

    So the question now is whether the Premier League can end the Spanish dominance in Europe.

    Past 10 Champions League winners:

    • 2015-16 - Real Madrid
    • 2016-17 - Real Madrid
    • 2017-18 - Real Madrid
    • 2018-19 - Liverpool
    • 2019-20 - Bayern Munich
    • 2020-21 - Chelsea
    • 2021-22 - Real Madrid
    • 2022-23 - Manchester City
    • 2023-24 - Real Madrid
    • 2024-25 - Paris St-Germain

  14. Get Involved - What do you make of English clubs in Europe?

    Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say

    Since the start of the Prem, there have been seven CL English winner compared to 13 from Spain. It's all good winning group games but it's finals you really want to win.

    Robert, Northampton

  15. Who has the best chance of going all the way?

    Merino scores twice as Arsenal thrash Slavia Prague

    It is still early days but Arsenal's superb start has them rated as the most likely to go all the way and win the competition.

    Opta predictions give them a 23.4% chance of winning the Champions League, while Manchester City are predicted to be the second most-likely English team to reach the final at 12.5%. Liverpool are third favourites from England with 11.3%.

    But former Everton midfielder Leon Osman believes the true test of the Premier League teams' capabilities will come in the knockouts.

    He said: "It is great [what English teams are currently doing], but it is only when you then get to the knockout stages, where it is literally one team through and one going home, that is the true test and that is when the big-hitters turn up."

    But Osman added that while it is early days, there could be signs that Premier League teams are now getting the balance right between being able to be competitive at home and abroad.

    "We have probably expected this [dominance] for years, but it hasn't quite materialised before," he said.

    "Maybe that is down to the competitiveness of the Premier League, which makes it hard to combine the two, but maybe this year, they are starting to get the balance right."

  16. Get Involved - What do you make of English clubs in Europe?

    Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say

    European teams have less competition in their domestic leagues and can rotate more as the season comes to a close. Hence they do very well in the final rounds. English teams have better players mostly, but less homegrown talent, Newcastle excepted. We can't have it both ways though.

    Neil, Doncaster

    That's a good observation, Neil.

    But shouldn't the fact that English clubs have more competition at home also make them more battle-hardened for the knockout stages than their European counterparts?

  17. Could a record number of English clubs progress?

    Mikel MerinoGetty Images

    This is the first Champions League season to feature six clubs from one nation and history will be made if all six of England's representatives go through.

    Back in 2017, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham all progressed, making England the first country to have five teams in the knockouts of the competition.

    However just two of those sides - Liverpool and Manchester City - got beyond the last 16, while the Reds went all the way to final after knocking City out in the quarter-finals.

    In the final, Liverpool were beaten by Real Madrid.

    According to Opta's predictions, Arsenal have a 99.8% chance of progressing to the knockouts, with Manchester City on 97.4% and Liverpool on 95.5%.

    However, the predictions model is a little less confident over the automatic progress of the other three sides with Newcastle on 82%, Chelsea on 80.8% and Tottenham on 72%.

    Former Liverpool midfielder Stephen Warnock told BBC Sport: "I'd say at the moment it is [significant what English teams are doing], but it doesn't matter what goes on at the moment because we saw what happened last year, when Liverpool were dominating and finished top of the league stage - and then they were suddenly knocked out by PSG who had been rubbish up until then.

    "So I just don't see at the moment, unless you get knocked out, what effect it is going to have and it does not mean the English teams are going to get through the knockout stages because it all depends on the draw, and how you are set up later in the competition."

  18. Get Involved - 'Depth of Premier League is utterly unrivalled'

    Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say

    An English club might win the CL. Top foreign clubs like Bayern etc will always compete. But the depth of the Premier League is utterly unrivalled. The average level is much higher - PSG rest their best team in Ligue 1, our CL fixtures are often easier than the PL.

    Zac, Cambridge

  19. Julien Laurens
    European football expert on MOTD: UEFA Champions League

    The Premier League is the best league in the world, the richest league in the world as well with the best players.

    It's almost natural that English clubs are so dominant.

  20. Get Involved - What do you make of English clubs in Europe?

    Click 'Get Involved' at the top of this page to have your say

    So what do you think of the Premier League's dominant start to this season's Champions League?

    Do you think one of the English clubs will win it? And if yes, who will that be?

    Or are we reading too much into these league phase displays? After all, it's the knockout stages where the big names truly show their mettle?

    We would love to hear your thoughts on this, so do have your say by clicking on the 'Get Involved' tab at the top of this page.