Charlie’s CL draw verdict

Charlie Nicholas has backed Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham to make the Champions League knockout stages, but believes Leicester and Celtic will struggle.

Only Claudio Ranieri’s side have moved in Sky Bet’s Champions League outright odds as a result of the draw, with their odds cut from 80/1 to 50/1, although all four Premier League sides are odds-on to qualify from their groups.

Celtic have been handed the toughest task after coming out of pot 4, with Pep Guardiola’s first and current clubs, Barcelona and Man City, in their path along with Borussia Monchengladbach, who won their play-offs tie with Young Boys 8-1 on aggregate.

Here’s what Charlie makes of the draw…

Group A

Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal, FC Basel, Ludogorets

I don’t think PSG are as good as they were last season but they’re still a strong side.

Basel are dangerous, I know that, but I’d expect a minimum of four points from facing them. Ludogorets are difficult at home but again I’d put a four-point minimum on them, then we just need to split our games with PSG.

I’m very, very pleased with the draw and how the seeding works and this might be the year where finishing second isn’t a bad thing.

There’s a lot of dangerous teams in the lower pots so that’s definitely added to the excitement and benefits Europe’s giants a touch less. A few of them might be grumbling about their draws.

Charlie verdict: Arsenal and PSG to qualify

Group …

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