Champions League predictions: Man United held, Villa beaten but rest of English clubs thrive

The Champions League it’s back this week and the table is starting to take shape with most of the big guns starting strong.

The English contingent is also doing well with Aston Villa, Liverpool, arsenal i Manchester City all sitting inside the top 10. Crisis club Manchester United are 20th and need a win in the fourth round.

Here, we look at this week’s top games and offer our Champions League predictions!

TUESDAY

Atlético de Madrid – Bayern Munich (8 p.m.)
By their lofty standards, Bayern haven’t exactly set the world alight in the Champions League this season with a win from their opening three games. It doesn’t get any easier for Harry Kane and co with a trip to the intimidating Metropolitano to face an Atletico side who have struggled away but beat Manchester United in their only home game. This should be a fascinating encounter with both teams desperate to push their way into the automatic qualification places.
Prediction: Atlético 2-1 Bayern Munich

Barcelona – Aston Villa (8pm)
This is a dream trip to Camp Nou Aston Villa fans and will enjoy the occasion regardless of the result. Their mood will be helped by the fact that they already have nine points in the bag and can see this as a free hit. Barcelona crushed Alaves 6-1 at the weekend, a fine bounce back from defeats to Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain. They won’t score six against Villa, but it’s hard to see the visitors getting anything.
Prediction: Barcelona 3-1 Aston Villa

Manchester United – Rome (8pm)
It seems like we’ve said it a lot recently, but Michael Carrick needs a win here to have any chance of extending his Manchester United tenure. United capitulated once again at Chelsea on Saturday and reports suggest Carrick has this game and the weekend clash with Villa to stave off the seemingly inevitable. Roma arrive with confidence. They are unbeaten in Serie A and will play with a swagger that the struggling hosts will be unable to match.
Prediction: Manchester United 1-1 Roma

Villarreal – Paris Saint-Germain (8 p.m.)
PSG continues the march. After a slightly sticky start domestically, they have racked up nine straight wins and three in the Champions League, including wins over Manchester City and Barcelona. They are not without Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Ousmane Dembele, but their strength in depth means they can still field a powerful squad. Villarreal are not in great form, neither in Europe nor in La Liga, and are unlikely to test the visiting team.
Prediction: Villarreal 0-2 Paris Saint-Germain

WEDNESDAY

AEK Athens – Real Madrid (5.45pm)
Whisper it quietly, but Jose Mourinho is doing very well for Real Madrid at the moment. After a rocky start, the Portuguese seem to have molded a previously dysfunctional squad into a cohesive unit and are winning games. They have been victorious in six games in a row, including the potentially key triumph in Barcelona. AEK are one of the weaker teams in the Champions League and that should be business as usual for the 15-time winners.
Prediction: AEK Athens 0-4 Real Madrid

Fenerbahce – Liverpool (5.45pm)
Liverpool are also in the first round and face one of their former heroes in the form of Dirk Kuyt. The Dutchman is in temporary charge of Fenerbahçe and hopes his players will perform better than they did at the weekend when they lost to Goztepe. Fenerbahçe are yet to win in the league stage and will be tested by a Liverpool side looking to bounce back from defeat to Arsenal. The hosts’ XI will be full of big names, but most appear on the mound.
Prediction: Fenerbahce 1-3 Liverpool

RB Leipzig – Manchester City (8 p.m.)
It’s definitely not a crisis, but league defeats to Brighton and Aston Villa, with an EFL Cup penalty shoot-out win over the Seagulls, have definitely dampened momentum at the Etihad. City are still well placed in both the Premier League and Champions League and will be hoping to get back on track in Germany. Leipzig are fourth in the Bundesliga but have struggled against elite opposition this season, suffering heavy defeats to Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
Prediction: RB Leipzig 1-4 Manchester City

Slavia Prague – Arsenal (8 p.m.)
What a crazy week for Arsenal. A humiliating defeat to Fleetwood in the EFL Cup was one of the low points of Mikel Arteta’s time in charge, but they showed great character to bounce back at Liverpool on Sunday. Arteta will be desperate for his side to go on to win at Anfield and it’s hard to see that happening. Slavia are top of the Czech league but have not won any of their last 18 European matches. This is a banker away from home (although we may have said that about the game at Fleetwood!).
Prediction: Slavia Prague 0-4 Arsenal

THIS WEEK’S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE MATCHES IN FULL