All three sides have been mentioned as possible winners of the tournament and it’ll certainly be interesting to see how they get on following fairly mediocre starts to their league campaigns.

In one of the early kick-offs, out-of-form Liverpool face perhaps the toughest test of the three sides when they take on Young Boys in Bern (Match Betting – Young Boys 2/1, draw 9/4, Liverpool 11/8).

Much has been made of Brendan Rodgers men’s poor form at the start of the season and the Northern Irish boss still has plenty of questions to answer before proving he’s the right man for the job.

Rodgers will see the Europa League as a chance to relax and will be urging his players to relax during the match at the Stade de Suisse.

However, they definitely won’t have it all their own way and despite their diminishing fortunes at home, the Reds are still seen as a massive draw in Europe and Young Boys will certainly be up for the game.

They also have plenty of experience, having beaten Tottenham on home turf in 2010, and will fancy their chances of getting the campaign off to a winning start.

Despite this Liverpool do still have a lot of class in their ranks and should just sneak it, possibly by a single goal.

The other six o’clock kick-off involving an English side sees Newcastle face Maritimo in Funchal (Match Betting – Maritimo 5/4, draw 11/5, Newcastle 9/4).

This is the first time the Magpies have appeared in Europe for the best part of a decade and it’ll be interesting to see how their relatively small squad can deal with the demands of competing both at home and abroad.

Maritimo should provide the perfect opposition to ease them into the tournament, as although it won’t be easy for Alan Pardew’s men, they should come through with the win.

Expect this one to be cagey affair early doors but for Newcastle’s extra class to eventually shine through and see them claim the three points.

The final English side in action on Thursday is Tottenham who take on Italian side Lazio (Match Betting – Spurs 5/6, draw 5/2, Lazio 10/3).

Despite only being in charge for a few months, Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas is already under pressure but having won this tournament with Porto in 2010, the young coach knows exactly what it takes.

His side will also be full of confidence after claiming their first league win of the campaign against Reading on Sunday and although AVB may opt to rest some of his stars, they will still field a strong team to lift the trophy.

After a few barren seasons, their opponents Lazio are currently enjoying somewhat of a resurgence and finished an impressive fourth in Serie A last term.

They currently have a number of top players in their squad, most notably striker Miroslav Klose, who was recently linked with a move to White Hart Lane and will be looking to prove he can still perform at the top level, despite his advancing years.

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Chelsea

All six of Chelsea’s previous fixtures against Belgian sides have produced a decisive scoreline – and in each case the losing team failed to score – and a customary strong start in Europe means the west Londoners should have little trouble justifying short odds of 1/8 about a home win.

Genk have lost successive Belgian league fixtures – and have not won in five in all competitions – so it would not be dismissive to suggest it would require a leap of faith to take the 18/1 about a shock away win at Stamford Bridge.

A mixed start to the domestic season has left them mid-table and the omens do not look good about a maiden first experience in England.

Genk marked their return to Europe’s elite club competition after nine years with a hard-earned point at home to Valencia but crashed 2-0 at Bayer Leverkusen two weeks later and will be afforded no mercy in the capital.

Chelsea have lost just once all season in all competitions – against champions Manchester United – and last season were denied a sixth semi-final appearance in eight years against the same opponents.

Mario Been was appointed as Frank Vercauteren’s permanent successor by Genk on August 30 but the wheels have come off recently and Chelsea will surely view the visit of the Belgians as a home banker.

Marseille have made a strong start in Group F with two wins and no goals conceded but Arsenal have never lost in seven previous visits to France.

However, seasoned Gunners fans will know that particular statistic masks another worrying fact – the north Londoners have lost six of their last eight away games in the competition proper.

Draws have been a major issue for Didier Deschamps’ team this season – they have collected six already in Ligue 1 – and it may pay to follow another stalemate at 12/5.

Arsenal have picked up three points in Europe so far this season – but conceded in both games – and trail Wednesday’s hosts by just two points, but may decide to adopt a conservative approach given that they may look to progress by taking points at the Emirates Stadium.

In OM’s last 17 home fixtures in the competition proper they have only won seven, with seven defeats, and avoiding an away reverse may be the priority for the Gunners.

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Hearts

Paulo Sergio’s side have won four of their five home league fixtures this season, conceding just one goal in the process. They have been difficult to break down, and have tasted defeat just once on home soil.

Despite a disappointing run of form away from home, Hearts are fourth in the SPL table and will relish the challenge of taking on Celtic in front of their home crowd. If they could improve on their results on the road, they could be a lot closer to the top two in the league.

Sergio does have the disappointment of not being able to select Andrew Driver into his squad on Sunday, he is struggling with the knee injury that has kept him out of action for large parts of this year. Whilst Marian Kello and Kevin Kyle are still are still on the sidelines. Otherwise it is a full strength side for the Portuguese man.

The visitors did have the distraction of a tough Europa League tie against Udinese on Thursday evening. As we have seen in the past, side’s often struggle from a European hangover when they return to domestic action the following weekend. They have just had two days to recover and prepare for this tricky SPL clash.

Neil Lennon’s side were denied a valuable victory over the Italians at Celtic Park, but were tested really hard against a club who ran Arsenal close in their Champions League qualifying defeat to the Gunners.

Joe Ledley was a casualty from the draw with Udinese. He was taken off at half-time with a groin injury, and will be a big loss to the midfield of the Bhoys.

Celtic have shown vulnerability at many points this season, none more so than throwing away a 2-1 lead in the Old Firm clash with Rangers, in which they eventually lost 4-2.

The Hoops are already seven points behind their rivals Rangers in the league, and their season hasn’t gone to plan so far, after being eliminated from the Europa League, but for the reprieve after Sion fielded an ineligible player against them in their victory.

It is unlikely to be anything other than a tight game at Tynecastle on Sunday, but take Celtic to fire blanks. Hearts can judge edge the three points with a 1-0 victory that is priced at 11/1. The home side may have to be patient, and continue to defend as well as they have done at home this season. However, they are more than capable of doing this.

They are likely to frustrate Lennon’s team, and with the backing of their home crowd, can add more torment to Celtic’s season so far.

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