Champions League draw 2019 pots: Who could play who as group stages are decided

Liverpool are joined by Manchester City, Tottenham and Chelsea from the Premier League

The Champions League is set to return with the group stage draw now a matter of hours away.

Liverpool return as champions after prevailing over Tottenham Hotspur in Madrid just three short months ago. Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi goals were enough then and they'll be hoping to defend their crown this term.

Mauricio Pochettino's side have started the Premier League slowly but produced some of the performances of the tournament last season and will want to go one better this time around.

Champions Manchester City have long targeted the Champions League with Pep Guardiola desperate to add the biggest trophy of all to his collection again.

And Chelsea, Europa League winners back in May, return to the top table with designs on repeating their success of 2012 when they so famously took the title.

When and where is the Champions League draw?

The draw will take place in Monaco on Thursday August 29.

Expect proceedings should get underway at around 5pm.

How can I watch the draw?

The draw will be available to watch for free on Uefa’s official website with a live stream, while BT Sport will provide coverage and analysis across their platforms.

Alternatively Independent Football will have you covered with a live blog to follow on the move or at work.

Key dates

The play-offs will take place on August 20-21 and 27-28.

Matchday one of the group stage will take place on September 17-18.

Liverpool won their sixth European crown last season (REUTERS)

Pots

Pot 1

• Liverpool
• Chelsea
• Barcelona
• Bayern Munich
• Juventus
• Manchester City
• Paris Saint-Germain
• Zenit

Pot 2

• Real Madrid
• Atletico Madrid
• Borussia Dortmund
• Napoli
• Shakhtar Donetsk
• Tottenham
• Ajax
• Benfica

Pot 3

• Lyon
• Bayer Leverkusen
• Salzburg
• Olympiacos
• Club Brugge
• Valencia
• Inter Milan
• Dinamo Zagreb

Pot 4

• Lokomotiv Moscow
• Genk
• Galatasaray
• RB Leipzig
• Slavia Prague
• Crvena Zvezda
• Atalanta
• Lille

Odds

Man City 4/1

Barcelona 11/2

Liverpool 7/1

Real Madrid 8/1

PSG 10/1

Juventus 10/1

Bayern Munich 14/1

Tottenham 20/1

Atletico Madrid 20/1

Borussia Dortmund 33/1

Chelsea 33/1

Napoli 50/1

Ajax 66/1

Inter Milan 66/1

Valencia 100/1

RB Leipzig 100/1

Lyon 150/1

Bayer Leverkusen 150/1

Atalanta 150/1

Benfica 150/1

PSV 200/1