Arsenal should face safe passage in Champions League if they beat Besiktas but Liverpool could be in for a struggle

Arsenal still top seeds but Liverpool could face tough drawFavourable draw: Arsenal will be top seeds if they qualify (Picture: Reuters)

Arsenal still need to beat Besiktas tonight to qualify for the Champions League group stage after a 0-0 draw in the first leg, but should they do so they will be top seeds once again in the draw.

Despite failing to reach a quarter-final since 2009/10, the Gunners’ consistent qualification for the last 16 will see them in the top pot alongside holders Real Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, Benfica and Porto.

Should Besiktas triumph, Schalke will be the beneficiaries, moving from pot two to pot one.

Arsenal, and Chelsea, therefore face best-case scenarios of a group including Basel, Sporting Lisbon and Maribor.

The toughest possible group for the English pot one teams would be Borussia Dortmund, Napoli or Athletic Bilbao (the pair play-off in Spain tonight, tied at 1-1 after the first leg) and Monaco.

Liverpool, in pot three, face a worst case scenario of Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and either Monaco or Roma. Their best case would be Porto, Basel and Maribor.

Manchester City, in pot two, could face a nightmare group of Real, Napoli (if they qualify) and Monaco.

But with the likes of Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain also in pot two they are at least guaranteed to avoid trips to the homes of the French and Italian champions.

The pots are based on each club’s UEFA co-efficient, which is based on results in UEFA competitions over the past five seasons, and of course, clubs from the same country can’t be drawn into the same group.

The draw takes place at 4.45pm on Thursday and will be shown live on Sky Sports News, Eurosport and the UEFA website.

Here are the current pots in full, with asterisks indicating teams that must still confirm qualification tonight:

Pot one

Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Benfica, Atletico Madrid, Arsenal*, Porto

Pot two

Schalke, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Shakhtar Donetsk, Basel, Zenit St Petersburg, Manchester City

Pot three

Bayer Leverkusen* , Olympiakos, CSKA Moscow, Ajax, Napoli*, Liverpool, Sporting Lisbon, Galatasaray, Athletic Bilbao*

Pot four

Anderlecht, Red Bull Salzburg*, Copenhagen*, Roma, Steaua Bucharest*, APOEL Nicosia, BATE Borisov, Besiktas*, Ludogorets*, Maribor, Monaco, Malmo*

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