NORTHERN IRELAND V SWITZERLAND

Off we go!

Mark Davies: I hope the Republic draw Italy and Northern Ireland draw the Swiss.

Former Spain international Fernando Hierro has stepped up to the podium to help with the draw.

Click play at the top of this page to watch the host explain what's happening with the pots...

Former Republic of Ireland international John Anderson has given his thoughts on who they might want in the play-offs.

"Not Italy and not Croatia," he said. "The one thing I would say is: I would fancy us in a one-off game against anybody but not over two legs. It's pot luck. It's who performs on both nights. Whoever they get they want the first leg away from home.

"Now the hard work really starts. Whoever we get, it's going to be difficult."

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Joe McElroy: I want Italy, picture the scene, Milan away, a sea of green and white drinking in front of the cathedral, lovely stuff.

Darrell McDonald: Really want Italy for Brady to re-enact his heroics at the Euros.

Jamie: Although Italy have a bit of glamour, we'd LOVE to go to Russia. So it's got to be Denmark or Croatia please.

Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill has been speaking about who he fancies for their play-off match.

"I think you always want to avoid the Italians," he said.

"We've played Croatia and it was a very difficult game," he added, referring to the friendly defeat at Windsor Park in November 2016.

"They had some players missing, we played some of our fringe players as well, so it wasn't a true reflection of the game.

"But I think, certainly, Denmark and Switzerland would provide a stiff test but I definitely think out of the four teams, they're possibly the two you would favour."

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A reminder of how this European play-off draw is going to work:

There are four seeded teams - Denmark, Switzerland, Croatia and Italy - and four unseeded teams in Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Sweden and Greece.

The games will take place on a home and away basis, with the first legs between 9 and 11 November and the second legs between 12 and 14 November.

The first team drawn for each of the ties will be at home first.

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There are nine slots left to complete the the full complement of 32 in Russia and all of them will be decided by 15 November.

There will be the four European play-off winners - we'll be bringing you live updates from the draw shortly.

And there are still three more African spaces to fill, with Egypt and Nigeria already through.

Those final games will be on 14 November, with Tunisia, DR Congo, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde and South Africa all still in with a shout.

And to wrap things up there's two pan-continental play-offs.

Australia v Honduras across two legs on 10 and 15 November and New Zealand v Peru on 11 and 15 November.

We now know 23 of the 32 teams who will play in Russia next summer.

Alongside the hosts, the other nations who have booked their place are: Germany,Brazil, Iran, Japan, Mexico, Costa Rica, Belgium, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, England, Nigeria, Poland, Egypt, Iceland, Serbia, France, Portugal, Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia and Panama.

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Come on then, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland fans.

Who would be your preferred pick in the play-offs and who do you want to avoid. Tell us why, too.

You can get involved via #bbcfootball on Twitter or text 81111.

Let's turn our attention back to the World Cup play-off draw.

We're expecting it to get under way at 13:00 BST, although there's always a lot of faffing at these events.

You can watch all the faff and the actual draw itself by clicking the play button, which will appear at the top of this page shortly.

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This will be the first competitive encounter between Maribor and Liverpool.

The Premier League side are second in Group E, having drawn with Sevilla and Spartak Moscow. Maribor are bottom with one point.

"This is a decisive moment in the group - we need to be confident and brave we don't need to think about the last game," said Reds manager Jurgen Klopp.

"We play Maribor twice now. We've already wasted points so we have to be very good again it's an important moment."

Maribor have won only one of their eight games against English opposition in all competitions - a 2-1 win against Wigan Athletic in the 2013-14 Europa League group stages.

Yep, Wigan were in the Europa League. Glory days.

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Another game, another goalkeeper switch for Liverpool.

Loris Karius gets the nod ahead of Simon Mignolet for the game in Slovenia.

Jurgen Klopp isn't expected to make any other changes from the 0-0 draw with Manchester United.

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The Premier League leaders are also out in front in their European group.

Manchester City have two wins from two in Group F.

Napoli are currently third, level on points with Shakhtar Donetsk.

The Italian side have never won an away game against English opposition in all competitions, losing five of their six trips, conceding 15 goals and scoring only three.

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When speaking to the media on Monday, Man City boss Pep Guardiola didn't go into great deal on the injury progress of Sergio Aguero.

But the forward could well return to the side to face Napoli, three weeks after he broke a rib in a car crash.

Napoli are expected to rest several players as they face Inter Milan in Serie A on Saturday.

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Harry Kane has already scored seven goals in five Champions League games and, unsurprisingly, he was the main subject matter in Monday's news conferences.

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane described Kane as a "complete player" and when asked if the England striker could ever play for the Spanish club, Zidane responded: "I don't know what will happen in the future. But in the present, what he is doing has made him a very important player, a key player."

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Tottenham have already beaten Borussia Dortmund and Apoel Nicosia but are second in Group H behind Spanish giants Real Madrid. They got the same points, the same goal difference but they have an alphabetical advantage.

Real and Spurs face each other twice in two weeks, with the 12-time European champions visiting Wembley on 1 November.

Real manager Zinedine Zidane labelled Tuesday's meeting as the "first group final".

No pressure.

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Tottenham defender Danny Rose could make his first appearance since January, after recovering from a long-term knee injury.

Midfielder Dele Alli is suspended but has travelled with the squad,

Real Madrid and Wales forward Gareth Bale is out with a calf injury and will not face his old club.

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BBC Radio 5 live

BBC Radio 5 live will have coverage of Tottenham's Group H game with Real Madrid. John Murray is the man on the mic at the Bernabeu, alongside former England defender Danny Mills.

Build-up will start at 18:30 BST, along with 5live Final Score on the Red Button.

You'll also hear updates from Liverpool's match at NK Maribor and Manchester City v Napoli.