Bergwijn & Kudus to break behind TAA
Liverpool v Ajax
Tuesday, 20:00
Live on BT Sport 2
Liverpool's problems are unlikely to go away any time soon. Despite Thiago Alcantara and Fabinho being available for selection, Jurgen Klopp's side seem to have lost vital energy, pressing with less intensity than usual and seeming hesitant both on and off the ball.
It has made them surprisingly easy to counter-attack, with the decompression between Liverpool's lines becoming a major concern.
New Ajax manager Alfred Schreuder is a continuation of the Erik ten Hag method, in that he demands possession football but with more verticality than one might expect from an Ajax team.
He is happy to take advantage of transition moments and expects the possession football to be played at a high tempo with longer ground passes through the lines connecting Edson Alvarez with Steven Berghuis.
These are likely to find success against such a passive Liverpool team, although of greater significance will be the running of Stephen Bergwijn and Mohammed Kudus, who appear in the same left-leaning pockets.
Both players should see plenty of the ball in the gaps behind Trent Alexander-Arnold as Ajax become just the latest team to take advantage of Klopp's reckless high line.
Back double chance Ajax/draw at 2.47/5
Sane & Davies can dominate Bellerin
Bayern Munich v Barcelona
Tuesday, 20:00
Live on BT Sport 4
Julien Nagelsmann's side have got off to a fairly poor start to the season, but there is reason for optimism ahead of their midweek games against a Barcelona team not used to being attacked as relentlessly as Bayern Munich will do.
The hosts should be able to expose brittleness that is rarely tested, in particular on Barcelona's right side.
An injury to Sergi Roberto means Hector Bellerin is in line to start, despite the injury-prone right-back having struggled at Real Betis last season.
He has lost some of his explosive pace, which may be a huge problem on that side as he faces both Leroy Sane and Alphonso Davies. Raphinha and Gavi will likely be caught ahead of the ball, leaving Bellerin with too much to do once the ball is worked out to that side.
However, Barcelona have made an exceptional start to the season with Robert Lewandowski scoring nine goals in his first six matches for the club.
His ability to drop deeper to link the play has improved Xavi's side considerably, and of course Lewandowski will know exactly how to manoeuvre his old team-mates out of position. The safest bet here is for goals at both ends.
Back over 3.5 goals at 1.9110/11
Potter will target wide areas
Chelsea v Salzburg
Wednesday, 20:00
Live on BT Sport 3
Graham Potter's first game in charge of Chelsea is a difficult one to predict.
He is a major departure from the tactical preferences of Thomas Tuchel, and will be coaching the players to use a highly-flexible system of possession-based football that requires lots of time on the training ground for automatisms to form.
That could mean Chelsea look a bit confused early in his tenure.
RB Salzburg is a good first game, however, because Potter can deploy his favoured 3-4-2-1 - a system broadly understood already by his Chelsea players - and it will perfectly suit exposing the flaws in the Salzburg approach.
Manager Matthias Jaissle almost always uses a diamond 4-4-2, which is far too narrow to deal with the flying wing-backs in an attacking 3-4-2-1.
Reece James and Marc Cucurella ought to find plenty of joy out wide, joined by Kai Havertz and Mason Mount as they are instructed to support by floating between the lines.
That is the natural games of Havertz and Mount and precisely how Potter likes his number tens to operate. Potter may not hit the ground running domestically, but on Wednesday he has been gifted with the perfect opponent.
Back Chelsea to win with a -1 handicap at 2.01/1
Haaland can show City a different side
Man City v Dortmund
Wednesday, 20:00
Live on BT Sport 2
Borussia Dortmund's 3-0 defeat to RB Leipzig last weekend was a shock to the system for Edin Terzic, and evidence of the dangers of his dominant and high-line style of football.
Not used to being pressed and counter-attacked as ruthlessly as Leipzig managed, it showed up the flaws of a prosaic build-up style.
Terzic does not adapt his tactics to suit the opponent, and therefore Pep Guardiola will likely tweak his style to take advantage in the way Leipzig did.
One of the great advantages of having Erling Haaland up front is being able to go from back to front in just a few seconds, capitalising on the sort of transitional space that opens up against teams like Dortmund.
Since few are brave enough to have a go at Man City, this is not a side of Haaland's game that the City supporters have yet seen.
On Wednesday, Kevin de Bruyne will be looking to release Haaland in behind much earlier, in line with Guardiola's subtle shift over the last two years to allow more quick breaks when the time is right. Dortmund, expecting a slower Man City, may be caught out by their former striker.
Back Man City to win with a -1handicap at 2.47/5