Five things to expect in Champions League: Chelsea to make changes; Anthony Martial to start for Manchester United; Arsenal face test

Europe's premier competition is back

(Getty Images)

1) It's a good time for City to face Juventus

Last season's beaten finalists went through numerous changes over the summer, as key players (Carlos Tevez, Aturo Vidal, Andrea Pirlo) and important squad players (Romulo, Angelo Ogbonna, Fernando Llorente) all left Max Allegri's team.

Pablo Dybala, Sami Khedira, Mario Mandzukic, Juan Cuadrado, Alex Sandro and Hernanres all arrived, but the Old Lady have not impressed at all so far this season.

In their three matches in Serie A this season, Juventus have only picked up a point (at home to Chievo over the weekend), have already lost to title rivals Roma and lost on the opening day to Udinese.

Manchester City will be without Sergio Aguero but David Silva and Raheem Sterling both return. Manuel Pellegrini's men have started the Premier League season at a destructive pace, but are yet to make their mark in the Champions League.

This is the perfect time.

2) Mourinho to make big changes at Stamford Bridge

Plenty has been said and written about Chelsea's dreadful start to the season, but it's now the chance for Jose Mourinho to actually drop some of his non-performing stars and bring in some fringe players.

Branislav Ivanovic, Eden Hazard, Nemanja Matic, Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa have all been terrible so far this season and should not be in the team against Maccabi Tel-Aviv. Whether they are playing badly because of tiredness, a lack of motivation or a problem with Mourinho's recent sour moor it doesn't matter, none of them are playing well enough to remain in the team, no matter their reputations.

Eden Hazard, and others, have been poor this season and should be dropped

A home tie against the Israeli champions will not be the stiffest test Chelsea face this season, and whatever team the Blues send out should be more than capable of a convincing win. Baba Rahman, Papy Djilobodji, Bertrand Traore, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Radamel Falcao should all start.

Otherwise, why are those players at the club in the first place?

3) Arsenal won't have an easy defensive night

It would be a major upset if Arsenal were to lose in Croatia, and it doesn't seem likely to happen, but don't be surprised if Dinamo Zagreb test the Gunners' backline.

It's not yet clear which back four Arsene Wenger will select, but Per Mertesacker is still missing and he surely wants to give Mathieu Debuchy and Kieran Gibbs some game time.

The Croatian champions, and current league leaders, have an impressive quartet of forwards to call upon. Former Manchester United youngster Angelo Henriquez, 21, has scored 25 goals in 31 games since moving to the club, Algerian winger El Arbi Hillel Soudani is a threat coming in from the left on his right foot, and both Junior Fernandes and Armin Hodzic, 20, are capable of the spectacular.

Just watch this first goal from Hodzic, wow:

4) Martial to start new in look forward line

Louis van Gaal has been coy over whether he plans to start new kid on the block Anthony Martial, who had such a brilliant debut for Manchester United (as if you had forgot), but in reality he appears to have little choice.

Wayne Rooney is definitely missing for the match, James Wilson and Javier Hernandez have both been loaned out, leaving Martial as the only player really capable of playing up front.

Does Louis van Gaal have any choice but to start Martial? (Getty Images)

Marouane Fellaini was picked there against Liverpool and United look toothless in the first-half - he had played up front effectively for Everton during his time at Goodison Park, but that was as the target for long balls and flick ons, United don't play that way.

Memphis Depay is perhaps an option, but Van Gaal scrapped the plan to play him in the No 10 role and he has looked much more comfortable on the left.

Martial is riding the high of an extraordinary first weekend in England, Van Gaal should keep the momentum going.

5) Not much room for an upset, except in Rome

Scanning through this weeks Champions League's fixtures there is only really one fixture that jumps out as a scene for a potential upset. Barcelona travel to a Roma side that have started the season in extremely impressive fashion, with two wins and a draw from their opening three fixtures, including a morale-boosting 2-1 victory over Juventus.

Barcelona have won all three of their matches so far this season but are yet to find that higher gear that made them so irresistible on the way to a treble last season. They've scored just four goals in three matches so far, with Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar only finding the net once each.

Roma showed in that game against Juventus that they can hold a rigid defensive shape, frustrate the opposition and attack on the counter. Barcelona are the best in the business and would be a surprise if they failed to win, but Roma should give them a stiff first test.