Champions League & Europa League: English Clubs Aiming to Progress
The draws for the next round of the Champions League and Europa League produced some eye-catching ties for England’s seven representatives.
Chelsea were handed a tough test as they were paired with Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, while Arsenal won’t find things easy against Benfica in the Europa League.
Read on as we look at each of the ties and assess which Premier League teams will progress to the next phase of their respective competitions.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Borussia Monchengladbach vs Manchester City
Plenty of fans will have used vegas-promo-code.co.uk offers to back City to win the Champions League after they received a favourable tie in the round of 16.
Borussia Monchengladbach were fortunate to qualify for the knockout phase, and City should have little difficulty making it through to the quarter-finals.
RB Leipzig vs Liverpool
The Reds are favourites to progress to the last eight, but it would be foolish to write off Leipzig’s chances of upsetting the odds in this one.
The Bundesliga outfit reached the semi-finals of the competition last term, and they are fancied to take advantage of Liverpool’s ongoing injury crisis.
Atletico Madrid vs Chelsea
Chelsea have the toughest assignment of all the English clubs in Europe, and it is difficult to see them possessing the know-how to defeat Atletico Madrid.
The La Liga side are extremely difficult to play against, and they look a good bet to emerge victorious after two tight encounters.
EUROPA LEAGUE
Real Sociedad vs Manchester United
Real Sociedad have been going well in La Liga, but United should have enough about them to progress to the last 16 in the Europa League.
The Red Devils are disappointed to have dropped into UEFA’s second-tier competition, and they will be eager to make a statement in this tie.
Benfica vs Arsenal
Arsenal took advantage of a ridiculously easy group to reach the round of 32, but they will have their work cut out to progress any further in the competition.
Benfica possess the attacking talent to cause the Gunners plenty of problems and can pile further pressure on Mikel Arteta by knocking his team out of Europe.
Wolfsberger vs Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham are amongst the favourites to win the Europa League, and they should progress to the next stage by beating Wolfsberger.
The Austrian side defied expectations to qualify for the knockout stage, but they will find Spurs far too classy in this tie.
Slavia Prague vs Leicester City
If Leicester can keep the likes of Jamie Vardy and Hames Maddison fit they are more than capable of reaching the latter stages of this competition.
Slavia Prague finished second behind Bayer Leverkusen in Group C, but their interest in the Europa League will be ended by Brendan Rodgers’ talented team.
Champions League & Europa League Predictions: Man City, Man Utd, Spurs and Leicester all look nailed on to make progress in their respective competitions.
However, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal all look vulnerable, and at least one of them will fall by the wayside next February.
