What time is the Champions League group stage draw? Who Liverpool could face - UK TV channel and pots

Liverpool have made a disappointing start to the Premier League season, but they have a European distraction this evening.

It’s not time for the Champions League to get going just yet, but following the conclusion of the qualifiers on Wednesday night, it is time for the draw.

The group stage draw takes place on Thursday, and Liverpool will be hoping for a much more friendly draw this time around, having found themselves locked in a tough group last year.

In spite of that, the Reds managed to reach the Champions League final, losing to Real Madrid in the Paris final.

Jurgen Klopp and his men will want to go one better this time around, and a good draw will help, especially as they attempt a title bid in the Premier League.

Liverpool are in pot two again this season, meaning they are guaranteed to face one of the top seeded teams.

Those top seeded teams are made up of league title winners, along with Europa League champions Eintracht Frankfurt.

Ahead of the draw, we have rounded up everything you need to know, including Liverpool’s possible rivals and where to tune in.

When is the draw?

The UEFA Champions League group stage draw will take place on Thursday, August 25.

The draw will take place from 5pm British time, 7pm local time.

It will take place in the location of this year’s final - in Istanbul, Turkey. Istanbul was supposed to be the host city last year, but it was changed to Paris late in the day.

The final will be held at Ataruk Olympic Stadium, which holds just over 75,000.

Though, Liverpool fans won’t need an in-depth briefing of the stadium, given it was the site of that famous 2005 Champions League final win over AC Milan.

Is it on TV?

Yes, it is.

The UK’s Champions League broadcasters BT Sport will be showing the draw, with the programme starting on BT Sport 1 at 4.45pm. The programme will conclude at 6.45pm.

Alternatively, fans can tune in to UEFA’s live stream on UEFA.com from anywhere in Europe to catch the draw live.

Draw rules

The 32 Champions League group stage teams will be split into four pots, which are seeded.

Pot 1 is the strongest of the pots, while pot 4 is the lowest seeded.

One team from each pot will be placed into each group, with teams from the same nation not able to be drawn against each other at this stage.

The pot 1 teams will be drawn first, with a team name followed by the drawing of a group name, and the same process will follow from pot one right through until the last team in pot four.

There are no political exemptions this year due to Russian teams being banned from the competition.

Which teams are involved?

Pot 1

Real Madrid, Eintracht Frankfurt, Manchester City, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, PSG, Porto, Ajax

Pot 2

Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, RB Leipzig, Tottenham

Pot 3

Borussia Dortmund, RB Salzburg, Shakhtar Donetsk, Inter Milan, Napoli, Sporting Lisbon, Bayern Leverkusen, Olympic Marseille

Pot 4

Club Brugge, Celtic, Maccabi Haifa, Copenhagen, Dinamo Zagreb, Viktoria Plzen, Rangers, Benfica.