Can Arsenal play Liverpool or Man City in new Champions League format?

Arsenal and Man City will learn their fate in today’s draw (Picture: Alex Broadway/Getty Images)

Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool and Aston Villa will learn their Champions League fate today when the draw for this season’s new-look competition takes place.

A traditional group stage structure has been done away with an expanded league stage featuring 36 teams introduced this season.

The new format means more games for everyone involved – with each team playing four games at home and four games away in the league phase.

Each of those eight games will be against a different opponent with the top eight sides in the league progressing directly into the last 16 of the competition.

The 36 clubs involved will be seeded into four pots based on their Uefa coefficient, but the complicated new procedure will have plenty of fans wondering what route awaits their side.

Can Premier League teams play each other in the new Champions League format?

Under the old group stage format, teams from the same nation were kept apart and that remains the case under its new guise.

Arne Slot leads Liverpool this season (Picture: Michael Regan/Getty Images)

In the league phase, teams cannot face opponents from their own country. In addition, they can be drawn against a maximum of two sides from the same country.

New Champions League format explained

36 teams will enter the new league phase, each playing eight games against a different opponent – four at home and four away, to be determined by the new automated software running the show. Two opponents from each of the four seedings pots will be drawn.  

Clubs ranked nine to 24 enter into a knockout playoff contest, where victory will secure a spot in the round of 16. Teams in positions 25 to 36 are eliminated from the competition.

Things revert to a more familiar format in the knockout phase, with home and away ties contested leading up to the final.

Confirmed Champions League draw pots

Best Champions League draw for Arsenal

Each team will learn their eight opponents today with two being drawn from each pot. Arsenal find themselves in Pot 2, meaning they will play two of the top ranked clubs in the competition. Here’s how things could look for the Gunners with a bit of luck on their side.

RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund, Club Brugge, Shakhtar Donetsk, Young Boys, Red Star Belgrade, Sturm Graz, Brest

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