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The UEFA Champions League group stage is set after today’s draw took place in Monaco. Group B is made up of Sevilla, Arsenal, PSV Eindhoven, Lens as the group stage gets underway in early September. Arsenal and Sevilla are the early favorites in a favorable group, so all eyes will be on if they’ll be able to avoid being upset. Here’s a look at how Group B was drawn.
Teams with odds to win group
Arsenal: -190
Sevilla: +450
PSV Eindhoven: +500
Lens: +700
Picks to advance from group: Arsenal, Sevilla
This will be Arsenal’s first Champions League appearance since they lost in the round of 16 in 2016-17 after finishing second in the Premier League despite leading the table for most of the season. They’re 2-0-1 in the Premier League this season and have been led by the strong play of Edward Nketiah and Bukayo Saka.
Sevilla won the Europa League for a record-setting seventh time to quality for this year’s Champions League, and they’ll have their work cut out for them to secure the second spot out of the group. While PSV are a bit of an underdog, they defeated Arsenal in the Europa League last season, while Lens advanced as the Ligue 1 runner-ups. I’ll take the Gunners and last year’s Europa League winners to advance to the knockout round.