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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Tom Blow

Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City and Tottenham discover potential Champions League opponents

The waiting is nearly over!

The draw for this season's Champions League group stage takes place in Istanbul, Turkey on Thursday evening, with Premier League giants Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham all discovering their fate.

UEFA have confirmed which eight teams will be included in Pot 1, with six more teams yet to qualify via this week's play-off round. As such, it's still difficult to determine how the draw will play out, although we can get a good idea of the teams they want to avoid.

Here, Mirror Football takes a look at the best and worst groups for each of the four Premier League sides. Remember, teams from the same country can't play each other in the first round, while Pots 2 to 4 are based on UEFA coefficient rankings.

Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham

Neither Liverpool nor Chelsea have qualified for Pot 1, despite being ranked second and fifth respectively on UEFA's list. That means they could be drawn against defending Real Madrid, AC Milan, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.

Thanks to their high ranking, both teams will be in Pot 2. The likes of Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Juventus and Tottenham - who are ranked 14th on UEFA's list - will be in the same category, although there are plenty of decent teams expected to be in Pots 3 and 4. These include Inter Milan, Napoli and Celtic.

Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham could all face Real Madrid in the group stage (Getty Images)

Which team do you want to face in the Champions League group stage? Let us know in the comments below!

The latter's Old Firm rivals will also be in either Pot 3 or 4 if they qualify for the competition. That means Liverpool, Chelsea or Tottenham could face Rangers if they beat PSV Eindhoven in their two-legged qualifier. The first game at Ibrox finished 2-2.

Although that makes for worrying reading for Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham fans, there's every chance they could get a comfortable group. Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt, Portuguese champions Porto and Dutch champions Ajax are all in Pot 1.

Teams like RB Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sporting Lisbon, Bayer Levekusen, Marseille and Club Brugge can be found further down the coefficient rankings, While Qarabag, Viktoria Plzen, Bodo/Glimit, Dinamo Zagreb, Maccabi Haifa, Red Star Belgrade, Copenhagen, Trabzonspor, Dynamo Kyiv and Benfica all have a chance of qualifying via a play-off.

Liverpool's, Chelsea's and Tottenham's dream group : Ajax, Liverpool/Chelsea/Tottenham, Shakhar Donetsk, Club Brugge

Liverpool's, Chelsea's and Tottenham's nightmare group : Real Madrid, Liverpool/Chelsea/Tottenham, Borussia Dortmund, Celtic

Liverpool's, Chelsea's and Tottenham's alternative group : AC Milan, Liverpool/Chelsea/Tottenham, RB Salzburg, Marseille

Manchester City

As Premier League champions, City have got a spot in Pot 1 and will avoid some of the competition's biggest clubs. That being said, they could still face one of Barcelona, Juventus or Atletico Madrid. And the dangers of Inter Milan and Napoli still lie in Pots 3 and 4.

Manchester City's dream group : City, Sevilla, Shakhtar Donetsk, Club Brugge

Manchester City's nightmare group : City, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, Celtic

Liverpool's, Chelsea's and Tottenham's alternative group : City, Juventus, Napoli, Bodo/Glimt

Pot 1: Real Madrid, Eintracht Frankfurt, Manchester City, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto and Ajax.

Pot 2 (likely): Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, RB Leipzig and Tottenham.

Pots 3 and 4: Borussia Dortmund, RB Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Inter Milan, Napoli, Sporting Lisbon, Bayer Leverkusen, Marseille, Club Brugge and Celtic.

Other teams that can qualify: Qarabag, Viktoria Plzen, Bodo/Glimit, Dinamo Zagreb, Maccabi Haifa, Red Star Belgrade, Copenhagen, Trabzonspor, Dynamo Kyiv, Rangers, PSV Eindhoven and Benfica.

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