Champions League Draw: When does it start and worst case scenario for English clubs

We are three weeks out from the start of the 2020/21 Champions League group stage campaign and Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea will find out their opponents in this afternoon's draw.

Last season's Champions League campaign was the Premier League's worst since 2016/17 after Liverpool, City, Chelsea and Tottenham all fell before the semi-final stage.Tottenham have been replaced in this season's edition by Manchester United, who are back in Europe's elite competition after a one-year absence.

Ahead of Thursday's draw, WhoScored.com are on hand to provide all the important information for the English sides, including best/worst case scenarios in today's draw and key dates in the lead up to the 2021 final in Istanbul.

When is the Champions League draw?
Thursday, October 1. Opening ceremony starts at 4PM (GMT)
Where is the draw taking place?
After originally planned to take place in Greece, it will now be held in Nyon, Switzerland. Was originally set to take place in Greece
Where can I watch it?
Live stream on UEFA's website / BT Sport 1 (starting 3:45PM GMT) 

Who is in the 2020/21 Champions League?

Thirty-two of the best clubs in Europe will take part in the 2020/21 Champions League group stage campaign, with 26 auotmatically qualified and a further six made up of play-off winners.

This afternoon those teams will be drawn into eight separate groups with two places up for grabs for the knockout phase and third place granting a spot in the Europa League knockout stage. Teams from the same country cannot be drawn in the same group as each other and neither can clubs from Russia and Ukraine. 

Pot 1: Bayern Munich, Sevilla, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Zenit, FC Porto

Pot 2: Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Manchester City, Manchester United, Shakhtar Donetsk, Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea, Ajax

Pot 3: Dinamo Kyiv, Salzburg, RB Leipzig, Inter, Olympiacos, Lazio, Krasnodar, Atalanta

Pot 4: Lokomotiv Moscow, Marseille, Club Brugge, Gladbach, Istanbul Basaksehir, Midtjylland, Rennes, Ferencvaros

Best/Worst Case Scenario - Liverpool

As Premier League winners Liverpool go into the Champions League draw in pot 1. They therefore avoid all of last season's other champions from Europe's top leagues but there are still some heavyweights in pot 2.  

Liverpool cannnot be drawn in the same group as Chelsea, City and United, increasing the chances of facing a team like Barcelona or Atletico Madrid. The Reds may be keen to get revenge on the latter after being knocked out by them last season. Jurgen Klopp could also secure a reunion against old club Dortmund, but one of Ajax or Shakhtar are the easiest on paper.

The draw is meant to get easier as you delve into the latter pots but there are still some potential banana skins with the likes of Inter, Atalanta, Lazio and RB Leipzig in Pot 3. Liverpool would ideally like to avoid one of those four teams, while Ligue 1 high flyers Rennes could be a surprise package in the group stage with teenage sensation Eduardo Camavinga driving them on.

Worst Draw: Liverpool, Barcelona, Inter, Marseille
Best Draw: Liverpool, Ajax, Krasnodar, Midtjylland

Man City, Man Utd & Chelsea

With all three Premier League sides in Pot 2, they all have equal chance to draw every opponent. They will avoid Liverpool in Pot 1 but could still be drawn against the likes of Real Madrid, Juventus, PSG or Bayern. FC Porto or Zenit would be the dream opponent from Pot 1.

Like Liverpool, the aforementioned trio will be keen to avoid facing one of Inter, Atalanta, Lazio or RB Leipzig from Pot 3. Antonio Conte will have the bit between his teeth if his Inter side are drawn to face old club Chelsea, while a host of former United players at the Serie A outfit would like to prove their old club wrong.

Assessing the final eight teams from Pot 4 and all three Premier League sides should be more than confident of beating any one there. French side Marseille are arguably the strongest side, while Danish minnows Midtjylland are the weakest.

Worst Draw: Bayern, City/United/Chelsea, Inter, Marseille
Best Draw: FC Porto, City/United/Chelsea, Dinamo Kyiv, Midtjylland

Provisional Champions League Schedule:

Group stage

October 20/21: Matchday 1
October 27/28: Matchday 2
November 3/4: Matchday 3
November 24/25: Matchday 4
December 1/2: Matchday 5
December 8/9: Matchday 6

Round of 16

February 16/17 and 23/24: First legs
March 9/10 and 16/17: Second legs

Quarter-finals

April 6/7: First legs
April 13/14: Second legs

Semi-finals

April 27/28: First legs
May 4/5: Second legs

Final

May 29: Ataturk Stadium, Istanbul (Turkey)