We preview Arsenal, Newcastle, Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Spurs’ third matches in this season’s competition
Last weekend’s return of the Premier League is swiftly followed by the resumption of European competitions, with the UEFA Champions League taking centre stage on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Football writer Ben Bloom previews the six Premier League clubs’ Matchweek 3 ties and what to expect from their opponents.
Arsenal v Atletico Madrid
Tuesday 21 October, 20:00 (all times BST)
Seeking a 100th UEFA Champions League win, Arsenal host Atletico Madrid full of confidence after beating Fulham on Saturday to open up a three-point lead at the top of the Premier League.
Last season’s Champions League semi-finalist have won both of their matches in the competition so far and are one of only two sides yet to concede. Indeed, Mikel Arteta’s team have not let in a single goal in their last 11 home group/league phase games in European competition.
By beating Athletic Club in their opening match, they extended their winning streak against Spanish clubs to six matches – something no other team has ever managed in the competition.
Atletico have already travelled to England this season, losing at Liverpool, before thrashing Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1.
While they also beat local rivals Real Madrid 5-2 last month, they have not been at their best of late, heading into this game off the back of a 1-1 draw at Celta Vigo and a 1-0 win against Osasuna – two clubs in the bottom half of LaLiga.
Diego Simeone’s side are yet to win a game away from home in all competitions this season, while they have a dreadful recent record against English sides, winning just one of their last nine fixtures.
Newcastle United v Benfica
Tuesday 21 October, 20:00
Back in Europe’s top club competition this season, Newcastle faced a baptism of fire when defeated by Barcelona in their opening game before easing aside Royale Union Saint-Gilloise 4-0 last time out.
Standing in their way on Tuesday is a Benfica side yet to pick up a point in this season’s Champions League after defeats to Qarabag and Chelsea, the latter of which was Jose Mourinho’s first match in charge.
It has been a mixed time so far for the new manager, who played out a goalless draw with Primeira Liga leaders Porto in their final game before the international break and beat second-tier Chaves in the Portuguese Cup last weekend.
Mourinho’s men should at least be well rested after he fielded a much-changed side for that encounter.
Ominously, they have not beaten Premier League opposition in their last 11 Champions League matches, dating back to 2006.
Newcastle suffered a disappointing defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday and sit just 13th in the Premier League table.
One player who cannot be faulted is German striker Nick Woltemade, who has scored in five of his last six outings for club and country.
Anthony Gordon has also found the net in both of Newcastle’s league phase matches this campaign, scoring three goals in total.
No Newcastle player has ever scored in three successive Champions League appearances.
Villarreal v Manchester City
Tuesday 21 October, 20:00
Aiming to make it 13 consecutive seasons in the Champions League knockout phase, Manchester City have a travel problem to overcome after failing to win any of their last five away games in the competition.
Pep Guardiola’s side looked on track to beat Monaco in their last European outing, but a last-minute penalty saw the match end 2-2.
Nonetheless, they are unbeaten in eight matches in all competitions, beating Brentford and Everton as Erling Haaland continues his devastating goalscoring streak.
The match against Monaco was the Norwegian’s 50th Champions League appearance, in which he scored his 52nd goal; the previous best in the same time period was 43 goals by Ruud van Nistelrooy.
Villarreal lost to Tottenham Hotspur in their Champions League opener, before drawing with Juventus.
They sit third in LaLiga, but are without a win in their last three matches in all competitions and have lost their last five against English clubs.
Expect City to see plenty of the ball. Guardiola’s side have achieved the two highest possession averages in a Champions League tie this season: 74 per cent against Napoli and 71.3 against Monaco. Villarreal have seen just 43.1 per cent of the ball across their two matches.
Chelsea v Ajax
Wednesday 22 October, 20:00
This has been a season to forget for Ajax so far, and it would be little surprise if manager John Heitinga is feeling the pressure.
His side sit above only Champions League minnows Kairat in the 36-team league, without a point or goal in their opening two matches, which they lost 2-0 against Inter and 4-0 in Marseille.
The Dutch side also lost 2-0 at home to AZ Alkmaar over the weekend, leaving them nine points off the pace in the Eredivisie, with just one win in their last six games across all competitions.
Their line could well be led by former Burnley and Manchester United striker Wout Weghorst as they bid for a first win in 11 meetings against English teams, dating back to a Champions League semi-final first-leg win over Spurs in 2018/19 – a tie they famously lost at the death in the return fixture.
After back-to-back Premier League defeats in September, Enzo Maresca has now guided his Chelsea side to significant victories over Liverpool and Nottingham Forest this month.
The latter cost Ange Postecoglou his job and saw Chelsea move up to fifth in the table, despite having to cope with a raft of injuries to senior players including Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernandez.
They lost to Bayern Munich in their Champions League opener before ruining Mourinho’s Stamford Bridge return by narrowly seeing off Benfica.
Eintracht Frankfurt v Liverpool
Wednesday 22 October, 20:00
This time a month ago, the season looked almost too easy for Liverpool. The defending Premier League champions had not dropped a point in the defence of their title and opened their Champions League campaign with victory over Atletico Madrid, albeit courtesy of a stoppage-time winner.
Performances were not great, but wins were frequent.
Four matches later and Arne Slot finds himself in uncharted territory. Defeat against Frankfurt would be the first time Liverpool have lost five straight games since 1953.
The hope, and expectation, is that it will not come to that. Frankfurt have only played in the Champions League once before and Liverpool are unbeaten in 14 matches against German teams.
But Liverpool’s last European defeat came against Galatasaray – a side that Frankfurt hammered 5-1 in their first Champions League outing, before losing to Atletico Madrid by the same scoreline.
What the game should offer is plenty of goals. All 10 Frankfurt matches this season have seen at least three scored. Remarkably, four of them have delivered six goals or more.
The Germans have conceded a majority of them, and head into this game off the back of a loss and draw in the Bundesliga.
That should be music to Liverpool’s Hugo Ekitike’s ears, as he returns to face the club he left in the summer.
Monaco v Spurs
Wednesday 22 October, 20:00
Perhaps it is preferable for Thomas Frank’s side that this match is taking place in Monaco rather than the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Continuing a dismal run of home form this season, his team lost 2-1 when hosting Aston Villa on Sunday, and they are indebted to their away results for currently occupying sixth spot in the Premier League.
The hosts come into this match under new management, having ditched Adi Hutter during the international break and appointed former Royale Union Saint-Gilloise boss Sebastien Pocognoli.
His first game in charge was an underwhelming 1-1 draw with Angers over the weekend, which leaves Monaco winless in their last four games.
They lost 4-1 to Club Brugge in their Champions League opener, while their poor form leaves them seventh in Ligue 1, still waiting for their first clean sheet of the season.
The match should have seen Monaco’s Eric Dier reunited with the club he played 365 times for across 10 seasons.
But the unlikely scorer of a last-ditch penalty equaliser to rescue a 2-2 draw against Man City in their last Champions League match has been ruled out with a muscle injury.
Spurs have their own defensive injury issues, with Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie both unable to feature in Sunday’s defeat to Villa.
