Well, they hit 79 goals last season in the Bundesliga, including seven games that they got "ve or more goals and they've been involved in some crazy games in the last two Champions League seasons (5-1 win over Anderlecht, losing 7-2 to Lyon, and last year, wins of 5-1 over Panathinaikos, 4-3 Udinese and 3-2 Juventus). Watch for German World Cup players Torsten Frings and Tim Borowski in mid"eld, Miroslav Klose up front along with fancy new Brazilian Diego, who had "ve assists and one goal from two league games.

After all that building up, it's still just too hard to back against a morereliable Chelsea, especially with Ballack and Shevchenko adding some "nishing class. Could be some fun and a few goals "rst and if there's gonna be a shock it could be here.

Verdict Home win

PSV EINDHOVEN v LIVERPOOL
Tuesday, Philips Stadium, 7.45 Live RTE Two 7.00; UTV, 7.30
No more Guus at PSV for the boys in RTE to shower with praise with Ronald Koeman after moving from Ben"ca as manager. PSV came over a little desperate on deadline day last week, snapping up four new players, including Jan Kromkamp (another Steve Finnan replacement shipped off from An"eld) and Patrick Kluivert.

It's hard to escape the feeling PSV are rebuilding, even as Dutch champions, with a number of young players brought in during the summer but there's still names like Cocu, Farfan and Alex to cause a few problems for Rafa Benitez.

Liverpool look a side who might spend a few months searching for an optimum formation and then stumble upon one by accident. For now their problem is "nding a way of "tting Steven Gerrard, Xavi Alonso and Mohammed Sissoko into the mid"eld while also using the pace of guys like Craig Bellamy, Mark Gonzalez and Jermaine Pennant out wide and for now it seems one up front (Crouch or Kuyt) with two off him is the way to go. Two teams not quite at full tilt then. Could be tight.

Verdict Draw

MANCHESTER UNITED v CELTIC
Wednesday, Old Trafford, 7.45 Live RTE Two, 7.30
A good old fashioned Battle of Britain then, right? Well, maybe. The crowd and United should be well up for this one, especially given last year's abomination of a campaign and we don't imagine Neil Lennon and Thomas Gravesen are going to roll over and play dead without a bit of a scrap. Feisty it just could be. Irish fans get another peek at Aiden McGeady at a high level as well, which adds more interest. Funnily enough, even with Celtic's fantastic home record in Europe, we'd fancy them to nick a point here more so than at Celtic Park . . . while they can sit back and play it tight away from home, any natural opening up of a home game will suit United's pace on the break. If they can keep it scoreless for a half hour, United haven't generally had the guile to open teams up from mid"eld over the last year or two and of course RvN's pretty sensational European form is no longer available.

And yet. There's little doubt where the more quality lies and if Carrick and Scholes can get some kind of rhythm going in the middle, it could be one-way traf"c. That "rst 20 minutes, if United come out at the speed we're expecting, and if Rooney and Ronaldo are "ring, might just be beyond the Celtic defence. The Rooney drought in Europe (hasn't scored in the competition proper since that hat-trick against Fenerbache) may not last the 90 minutes.

Verdict Home win

HAMBURG SV v ARSENAL
Wednesday, AOL Arena, 7.45 Live, Setanta, 7.00; Highlights, RTE Two, 11.15
If there's a good time to catch Hamburg, well it's right now for Arsenal. Shorn of playmaker Rafael van der Vaart, David Jarolim and most likely new signing Juan Sorin, these absences look like turning a potentially awkward away trip into a good shot at three handy points for the Londoners. Hamburg haven't exactly come "ying out of the traps in the Bundesliga with three draws and though Arsenal haven't set the world alight either you'd expect Henry, Fabregas et al to have enough about them for a goal or two here.

Verdict Away win