Despite being at the early stage of his tenure with Chelsea, under pressure manager Andre Villas-Boas has described their Champions League encounter with Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday as a ‘massive game’ (Bayer Leverkusen 5/2, draw 12/5, Chelsea 23/20).

Champions League action returns this week and with the group stages reaching a climax, the top two clubs in England will be looking to confirm their places in the knockout stages on Tuesday.

Neither Manchester City or Manchester United have exactly been firing on all cylinders in the Champions League so far this season and both clubs will have one eye on the other games in their respective groups on Wednesday, as they chase qualification for the knock-out phase.

The Champions League is already at Matchday Four this week, with big group games for all the English sides as they chase qualification. Firstly, we preview the action involving Arsenal and Chelsea on Tuesday night.

The Champions League group stages have now reached match-day four and both Manchester clubs are in action on Wednesday as they seek to secure a spot in the knock-out stages of Europe’s elite club competition (Champions League match-day four).

Chelsea and Arsenal will both hope for positive results in the Champions League on Wednesday night but here we look out the other games in groups E and F that could have a big bearing on who eventually qualifies for the knock-out stage, with Bundesliga pair Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund both eyeing victories.

Manchester City have quickly realised the Champions League is a completely different world from the realms of domestic football and will now be going in search of their first win in Europe this season when they take on Villarreal on Tuesday (City 1/3, draw 4/1, Villarreal 9/1 – match prices).

The Champions League makes a welcome return on Tuesday night for matchday three, with some big names in action. Inter Milan will be looking to put their domestic troubles behind them at Lille, while Bayern Munich and Real Madrid will be confident of extending their 100% records.

Aside from the Chelsea and Arsenal fixtures, there are some intriguing Champions League matches on Wednesday. The pick of the ties sees Marseille entertain German champions Borussia Dortmund in Group F, with the French side looking to make it two wins out of two in the tournament.

There are two Champions League matches involving English teams on Wednesday with Arsenal hosting Olympiakos and Chelsea travelling to Spain to take on Valencia. Both sides won in the Premier League at the weekend so can they repeat the dose in Europe?