Both teams should see this as a winnable game where the champions of Czechia take on the champions of Norway. Slavia Prague have started the domestic season with six wins out of eight, and they are unbeaten in the Czech league. However, no clean sheets in any of their last four fixtures would suggest that they are not relying on defensive security right now, which will be music to Bodo Glimt’s ears.

Slavia will be hoping to fare better in this competition than they did in last year’s Europa League, which saw them lose six out of eight group games, keeping just one clean sheet in the process.  Slavia have a lot of technical attacking players and wingers, Lukas Provod and Vasil Kusej have had an especially strong start to the season.

For Bodo Glimt, this is a momentous occasion. They have been trying to qualify for the league phase of this competition for years, and now they have finally managed it. Glimt are a very well-coached side and have a top manager in Kjetil Knutsen, but do have issues away from home in Europe. Since the summer of 2023, they have just four away wins in 16 European games, with two of those coming in qualifying.

They’ve lost six of their last seven on the road, but managed to score on all occasions and generally offer a threat. Top scorer Kasper Hogh is ruled out, but they have enough weapons, such as Patrick Berg and Jens Petter Hauge, to get on the scoresheet again.

Due to Bodo Glimt’s poor away record in Europe then taking Slavia Prague to win with BTTS yes looks like a great bet.

Liverpool face Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid side for the first time since 2021, with the reigning Premier League champions clear odds-on favourites to win. This might not be a walk in the park, though facing a grizzly and experienced Spanish opponent who know how to get a result. Liverpool head into the game on the back of successive 1-0 wins, but one of those was against a toothless Burnley side. In the opening two rounds of the season, Liverpool’s defence looked vulnerable as they conceded twice to both Bournemouth and Newcastle.

The Reds tried to sign Crystal Palace defence Marc Guehi on transfer deadline day but failed to land him. Manager Arne Slot knows they have some defensive issues but thankfully, their attack force is as good as anything worldwide. New striker Alexander Isak is set to make his first appearance in the squad for this game.

Atletico Madrid travel here on the back of their first La Liga win of the season which came at home to Villarreal 2-0 at the weekend. They’ve had a slow start to the campaign but that weekend victory may well have come at a good time. Atletico won six out of eight group games last season and scored in every Champions League game they played apart from a 0-4 loss to Benfica. This is a team that has a lot of firepower in their ranks.

In Julian Alvarez and Alexander Sorloth they have proven goalscoring potential and also playmaking ability in the form of Antoine Griezmann. Liverpool are deserving favourites to win here but if they defend like they did in the opening two Premier League games then Atletico can at least get on the scoresheet. Taking the Merseysiders to win and BTTS yes looks the best bet for the game.