The group stages of the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League kicks off this week and four Premier League teams will compete in the opening round.
Manchester City travel to Ukraine to face Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday night after their miserable loss to Norwich City in the Premier League.
Champions League holders Liverpool face Napoli at Stadio San Paolo on Tuesday, while 2018-19 runners-up Tottenham face Olympiacos on Wednesday. 2018-19 Europa League winners Chelsea face Valencia at home after a good win over Wolves on Saturday.
Let’s take a look at 3 Premier League players to watch out for in this week’s UEFA Champions League:
#3 Tammy Abraham
21-year-old Tammy Abraham has had a brilliant start to the Premier League campaign and has cemented himself as the first-choice Chelsea striker for the season after scoring seven goals in five games for the Blues.
The striker scored a hat-trick against Wolves over the weekend and will be one to watch out for when Chelsea host Valencia on Tuesday night.
Abraham will make his Champions League debut on Tuesday, and will hope to banish memories of the Super Cup, where he missed the decisive penalty.
But the young forward will be confident after his latest performances and will face a Valencia defence that let in five goals against Barcelona over the weekend.
#2 Mohamed Salah
Liverpool have got off to a superb start in the Premier League, winning all five of their matches so far, and a lot of the good work is yet again being done by the attacking trio of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, and Roberto Firmino.
Salah has been in magical form so far, scoring four goals and assisting two in the five games that he has played for Liverpool in the league this season.
The Egyptian has a decent record against Liverpool’s Champions League opponent, Napoli, having scored twice and assisted twice in the six games he has played against them.
He scored the last time Liverpool and Napoli met in the Champions League on December 2018, which proved to be the winner, and ultimately knocked Napoli out of the competition.
#1 Sergio Aguero
Argentine striker Sergio Aguero is once again at the top of the goalscoring charts and is the joint top scorer with Tammy Abraham in the Premier League this season with 7 goals.
The 31-year-old scored over the weekend but could not help his team get any points from their game against Norwich City.
City’s opponents on Wednesday night, Shakhtar Donetsk, could be in for a hiding from Pep Guardiola’s team, who will want to put away their disappointment after their Premier League loss.
Aguero has played once against the Ukrainian club and scored once. The Argentinian missed both of City’s matches in the Champions League against Shakhtar last season.
