Champions League Probable Lineups: All 18 Matchday and Our Predictions for How They'll End

The Champions League returns on Tuesday 8 September: matchday one of the league phase, eighteen games across three days, six a day. Two at 18:45 and four at 21:00 CET.

Four Italian sides are involved. Inter Milan open on Tuesday at the Bernabéu, Napoli play on Wednesday, and Thursday brings AS Roma and Como 1907.

And there is a debut that carries the round on its own: Como play the first European match in their history, 119 years after the club was founded.

Where to watch, in Italy

Worth saying up front, because it causes confusion every week: the Champions League is not all on one channel.

Sky and NOW carry the large majority, 185 of 203 across the season, including Real Madrid vs Inter Milan, Fenerbahçe vs Roma and Como vs RB Leipzig.

Amazon Prime Video holds exclusive rights to the best Wednesday-night game, eighteen a season. For this opening round that is Napoli vs Arsenal: the one game of the eighteen not available on Sky.

A share of the ties between foreign clubs also goes out free-to-air on TV8, never an Italian side. Coverage differs by country, so check your local listing elsewhere.

Tuesday 8 September

Club Brugge vs Aston Villa — 18:45
Club Brugge (4-2-3-1): Yann Sommer; Matteo Dams, Brandon Mechele, Han-Beom Lee, Hugo Siquet; Hans Vanaken, Freddie Potts; Mamadou Diakhon, Romeo Vermant, Hugo Vetlesen; Nicolò Tresoldi.
Aston Villa (4-2-3-1): Zion Suzuki; Matty Cash, Victor Lindelöf, Pau Torres, Ian Maatsen; Boubacar Kamara, Leon Goretzka; John McGinn, Emiliano Buendía, Alysson; Nicolas Jackson.
Our call: more than 1.5 goals.

AEK Athens vs LASK — 18:45
AEK Athens (4-4-2): Thomas Strakosha; Stavros Pilios, Filipe Relvas, Harold Moukoudi, Lazaros Rota; Aboubakary Koita, Milán Vitális, Răzvan Marin, Lovro Majer; Luka Jović, Barnabás Varga.
LASK (3-5-2): Lukas Jungwirth; Xavier Mbuyamba, Alemão, Andrés Andrade; Kasper Jørgensen, Robert Ljubičić, Melayro Bogarde, Sascha Horvath, George Bello; Moses Usor, Samuel Adeniran.
Our call: more than 1.5 goals.

Real Madrid vs Inter Milan — 21:00, Bernabéu
Real Madrid (4-1-2-3): Thibaut Courtois; Marc Cucurella, Dean Huijsen, Ibrahima Konaté, Denzel Dumfries; Federico Valverde; Jude Bellingham, Brahim Díaz; Kylian Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior, Yan Diomande.
Inter Milan (3-5-2): Josep Martínez; Manuel Akanji, Yann Bisseck, Alessandro Bastoni; Andy Diouf, Nicolò Barella, Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Curtis Jones, Carlos Augusto; Lautaro Martínez, Marcus Thuram.
Our call: more than 1.5 goals.

FC Porto vs Manchester City — 21:00
FC Porto (4-3-3): Diogo Costa; Francisco Moura, Jakub Kiwior, Nehuén Pérez, Alberto Costa; Gabri Veiga, Pablo Rosario, Victor Froholdt; Pepê, André Silva, William Gomes.
Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Gianluigi Donnarumma; Matheus Nunes, Rúben Dias, Marc Guéhi, Joško Gvardiol; Enzo Fernández, Elliot Anderson; Phil Foden, Rayan Cherki, Antoine Semenyo; Erling Haaland.
Our call: fewer than 4.5 goals.

Borussia Dortmund vs Villarreal — 21:00
Borussia Dortmund (3-4-2-1): Gregor Kobel; Daniel Svensson, Waldemar Anton, Joane Gadou; Maximilian Beier, Felix Nmecha, Jobe Bellingham, Julian Ryerson; Marcel Sabitzer, Konstantinos Karetsas; Serhou Guirassy.
Villarreal (4-4-2): Luiz Júnior; Santiago Mouriño, Logan Costa, Renato Veiga, Carlos Romero; Nicolas Pépé, Santi Comesaña, Pape Gueye, Tajon Buchanan; Gerard Moreno, Georges Mikautadze.
Our call: more than 1.5 goals.

Lille vs Betis — 21:00
Lille (4-2-3-1): Berke Özer; Romain Perraud, Alexsandro Ribeiro, Nathan Ngoy, Tiago Santos; Nabil Bentaleb, Benjamin André; Osame Sahraoui, Hakon Arnar Haraldsson, Ethan Mbappé; Olivier Giroud.
Betis (4-2-3-1): Álvaro Valles; Héctor Bellerín, Marc Bartra, Natan, Fran García; Facundo Bernal, Marc Roca; Antony, Isco, Pablo Fornals; Troy Parrott.
Our call: fewer than 4.5 goals.

Wednesday 9 September

Barcelona vs Feyenoord — 18:45
Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Joan García; Xavi Espart, Andreas Christensen, Pau Cubarsí, Jules Koundé; Marc Bernal, Pedri; Anthony Gordon, Dani Olmo, Lamine Yamal; Raphinha.
Feyenoord (4-3-3): Tjark Ernst; Givairo Read, Tsuyoshi Watanabe, Jeremiah St Juste, Mika Mármol; Oussama Targhalline, Gjivai Zechiël, Charles Vanhoutte; Gaoussou Diarra, Nacho Ferri, Luciano Valente.
Our call: more than 2.5 goals.

Stuttgart vs Viking — 18:45
Stuttgart (4-2-3-1): Fabian Bredlow; Maximilian Mittelstädt, Jeff Chabot, Finn Jeltsch, Josha Vagnoman; Grischa Prömel, Angelo Stiller; Chris Führich, Deniz Undav, Bilal El Khannouss; Dženan Pejčinović.
Viking (4-3-3): Arild Østbø; Henrik Heggheim, Gianni Stensness, Jesper Daland, Vetle Auklend; Joe Bell, Kristoffer Askildsen, Tobias Moi; Henrik Bjørdal, Peter Christiansen, Zlatko Tripić.
Our call: fewer than 4.5 goals.

Napoli vs Arsenal — 21:00, Maradona
Napoli (4-3-3): Alex Meret; Mathías Olivera, Rafa Marín, Amir Rrahmani, Giovanni Di Lorenzo; Kevin De Bruyne, Stanislav Lobotka, Frank Anguissa; Noa Lang, Rasmus Højlund, Matteo Politano.
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): David Raya; Ben White, Ezri Konsa, Gabriel Magalhães, Riccardo Calafiori; Bruno Guimarães, Declan Rice; Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard, Christos Tzolis; Kai Havertz.
Our call: fewer than 4.5 goals.

Liverpool vs Atlético Madrid — 21:00
Liverpool (4-2-3-1): Alisson; Miloš Kerkez, Virgil van Dijk, Jérémy Jacquet, Jeremie Frimpong; Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister; Bradley Barcola, Florian Wirtz, Cody Gakpo; Alexander Isak.
Atlético Madrid (4-4-2): Jan Oblak; Marcos Llorente, Marc Pubill, Dávid Hancko, Alejandro Grimaldo; Giuliano Simeone, Pablo Barrios, Morten Hjulmand, Alex Baena; Ademola Lookman, Kang-in Lee.
Our call: more than 1.5 goals.

Paris Saint-Germain vs Slovan Bratislava — 21:00
Paris Saint-Germain (4-3-3): Matvey Safonov; Nuno Mendes, Willian Pacho, Marquinhos, Achraf Hakimi; Fabián Ruiz, Vitinha, João Neves; Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Ousmane Dembélé, Désiré Doué.
Slovan Bratislava (4-3-3): Dominik Takáč; César Blackman, Svetozar Marković, Kenan Bajrić, Sandro Cruz; Cristian Martínez, Peter Pokorný, Alen Mustafić; Tigran Barseghyan, Andraž Šporar, Suleiman Camara.
Our call: more than 2.5 goals.

Sporting CP vs Galatasaray — 21:00
Sporting CP (4-2-3-1): Rui Silva; Maximiliano Araújo, Gonçalo Inácio, Zeno Debast, Iván Fresneda; Issa Doumbia, Sergi Altimira; Nestory Irankunda, Rodrigo Zalazar, Geny Catamo; Luis Javier Suárez.
Galatasaray (4-2-3-1): Uğurcan Çakır; Roland Sallai, Davinson Sánchez, Abdülkerim Bardakcı, Ismail Jakobs; Lucas Torreira, İlkay Gündoğan; Leroy Sané, Gabriel Sara, Yunus Akgün; Barış Alper Yılmaz.
Our call: more than 1.5 goals.

Thursday 10 September

Fenerbahçe vs AS Roma — 18:45, Istanbul
Fenerbahçe (4-2-3-1): Ederson; Archie Brown, Nathan Aké, Milan Škriniar, Nélson Semedo; İsmail Yüksek, N'Golo Kanté; Oğuz Aydın, İrfan Can Kahveci, Mason Greenwood; Vedat Muriqi.
AS Roma (3-4-2-1): Mile Svilar; Gianluca Mancini, Daniele Ghilardi, Mario Hermoso; Nahuel Molina, Bryan Cristante, Manu Koné, Wesley; Matías Soulé, Paulo Dybala; Donyell Malen.
Our call: more than 1.5 goals.

PSV Eindhoven vs Shakhtar Donetsk — 18:45
PSV Eindhoven (4-2-3-1): Matěj Kovář; Filip Kostić, Armando Obispo, Lutsharel Geertruida, Sergiño Dest; Paul Wanner, Kodai Sano; Ruben van Bommel, Guus Til, Ivan Perišić; Ricardo Pepi.
Shakhtar Donetsk (4-2-3-1): Dmytro Riznyk; Vinícius Tobias, Valerii Bondar, Mykola Matvienko, Pedro Henrique; Oleg Ocheretko, Marlon Gomes; Alisson Santana, Isaque, Newerton Palmares; Kauã Elias.
Our call: more than 1.5 goals.

Como 1907 vs RB Leipzig — 21:00, Sinigaglia
Como 1907 (4-2-3-1): Jean Butez; Álex Valle, Jacobo Ramón, Trevoh Chalobah, Yan Couto; Luis Milla, Lucas Da Cunha; Martin Baturina, Nico Paz, Assane Diao; Anastasios Douvikas.
RB Leipzig (4-3-3): Maarten Vandevoordt; Ridle Baku, Willi Orbán, Maxime Estève, David Raum; Neil El Aynaoui, Nicolas Seiwald, Ezechiel Banzuzi; Johan Bakayoko, Christopher Nkunku, Antonio Nusa.
Our call: more than 1.5 goals.

Bayern Munich vs Bodø/Glimt — 21:00
Bayern Munich (4-2-3-1): Manuel Neuer; Alphonso Davies, Jonathan Tah, Dayot Upamecano, Konrad Laimer; Aleksandar Pavlović, Joshua Kimmich; Luis Díaz, Ismael Saibari, Michael Olise; Harry Kane.
Bodø/Glimt (4-3-3): Nikita Haikin; Fredrik Sjøvold, Villads Nielsen, Odin Luras Bjørtuft, Fredrik André Bjørkan; Sondre Auklend, Patrick Berg, Sondre Fet; Ole Didrik Blomberg, Andreas Helmersen, Ola Brynhildsen.
Our call: more than 2.5 goals.

Manchester United vs Sabah — 21:00
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): Senne Lammens; Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martínez, Diogo Dalot; Youri Tielemans, Kobbie Mainoo; Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes, Bryan Mbeumo; Matheus Cunha.
Sabah (4-2-3-1): Stas Pokatilov; Akim Zedadka, Steve Solvet, Rahman Dashdamirov, Tymoteusz Puchacz; Umarali Rakhmonaliev, Ivan Lepinjica; Veljko Simić, Aleksey Isayev, Christian Nwachukwu; Joy Lance Mickels.
Our call: more than 1.5 goals.

Slavia Prague vs Lens — 21:00
Slavia Prague (3-4-2-1): Jakub Markovič; Tomáš Holeš, David Zima, Štěpán Chaloupek; Mubarak Suleiman, Wiktor Nowak, Michal Sadílek, Samuel Isife; Lukáš Provod, Danijel Šturm; Tomáš Chorý.
Lens (3-4-2-1): Robin Risser; Kyllian Antonio, Ismaelo Ganiou, Souleymane Sagnan; Ruben Aguilar, Andrija Bulatović, Michaël Cuisance, Michał Skóraś; Florian Thauvin, Franjo Ivanović; Abdallah Sima.
Our call: more than 1.5 goals.

The individual calls

We published four, all on Tuesday's games.

Mbappé — at least 2 shots on target and Vinícius Júnior — at least 1 shot on target, both at the Bernabéu: they start in the same front line and are the two who finish most moves.

Mikautadze — at least 1 shot: he is Villarreal's only striker in the predicted eleven.

And here is something we say now, not later. The fourth call is on Bensebaini of Dortmund, on fouls suffered. The latest indications have him out: if he does not play, that call will be voided. We would rather write it today than have you find out on Friday.

Then we count it

When the Champions League round closes we publish the tally with nothing removed — voided calls included. The record of settled ones is in the results history.

Our analysis stays updated until each kick-off on the Champions League page, and the individual calls are in the Player Predictions section.