MA Sport
Full-time Fletch on... English chances in Europe
Arsenal
I could see history repeating itself with Arsenal again in that they will finish second again and draw one of the monsters in the Last 16.
They have one of the better teams in Europe in their group in Paris Saint-Germain, who lost Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Luiz, but are still a good side that will want to be one of the leading teams in European football.
Upcoming European games on BT Sport
Champions League
Leicester v Porto (27 September, 7.45pm)
CSKA Moscow v Tottenham (27 September, 7.45pm)
Celtic v Manchester City (28 September, 7.45pm)
Arsenal v Basel (28 September, 7.45pm)
Europe League
Hapoel Be'er Sheva v Southampton (29 September, 6pm)
Manchester United v FC Zorya Luhansk (29 September, 8.05pm)
It is a winnable group, but Arsenal have been in winnable groups before and not won them.
Manchester City
If Manchester City don’t get out of their group, there is something wrong with them. They are way ahead of Celtic and if they can’t beat Borussia Monchengladbach, they shouldn’t be in the competition.
We put Barcelona on a pedestal, but I don’t think Pep Guardiola will do that. That is going to be the difference for Manchester City under Guardiola. He is going into that group to win it; Barcelona or no Barcelona.
Tottenham
If Tottenham are going to qualify, they are not going to put the group away with a couple of games to spare.
I fear the depth of squad is going to be an issue. That’s because it’s a group where all the matches are tight, plus the trip to Moscow will be mentally and physically taxing on the players. On top of that, there is extra expectation on the team this season because of how they performed in the Premier League last season.
Leicester City
They will feel confident of getting out of their group, but they have got to juggle European football with league football, which this group of players has not had to do before.
It wouldn’t surprise me if their key results come away from home because they can soak up the pressure before hitting teams with their pace on the counter attack.
Experienced players coming to the King Power stadium are not going to be intimidated. Intimidation in the Champions League is walking out at the Nou Camp, looking to your left and seeing Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez. They’re not going to be at all intimated by Leicester fans banging their cardboard clappers together during the game.
