Champions League scouting report: form guide of teams facing Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City and United

Tuesday Oct 18:

Manchester City v Villarreal

Villarreal need something out of this game as much as City, having been beaten by both Bayern Munich and Napoli in their first two games. With only one win in six games in La Liga it amounts to a pretty dreary start for promising coach Juan Carlos Garrido.

It is partly explained by a shift in club culture: the ceramics business of the club’s wealthy owner, Fernando Roig, was hit hard by the economic downturn and Villarreal have not been able to afford the lucrative contracts of the past — Cristian Zapata and Jonathan de Guzmán were the only big buys this summer.

While Santi Cazorla left for Malaga, they did hang on to Guiseppe Rossi, their Italian international striker who hit 32 goals last season.

His usual partner, Nilmar, is out after knee surgery but with Cani and Borja Valero, once of WBA, there is plenty of creativity in midfield.

The vastly experienced Marco Senna keeps things tidy in midfield while 21-year-old Argentina centre back Mateo Musacchio is an emerging talent.

Garrido likes his team to play a highly-technical game, based around rapid short passing. They are also normally a dangerous team on the counter but without Nilmar’s pace that will be less of a threat for Roberto Mancini.

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Otelul Galati v Manchester United

After a slow start in their group, with draws at Benfica and against Basel at Old Trafford, United know they cannot slip up against the Romanian champions.

The game will take place at the national stadium in Bucharest as Galati does not have a stadium that meets Uefa’s requirements.

They were coached to their first title by Dorinel Munteanu, who won 134 caps for Romania and scored in the defeat of England in Charleroi that sent Kevin Keegan’s side out of euro 2000.

Since becoming player-manager of Cluj in 2005 he has had six different jobs — a testament to the volatility of Romanian club football.

Their domestic form has been indifferent this season — they have taken 11 points from nine games and lost their last two going into the weekend — but they have not been pushovers in their Champions League games, losing 2-1 in Basel and 1-0 at home against Benfica in tight games.

Munteanu has favoured a 4-5-1 formation, with Romanian internationals Cornel Rapa, Adrian Salageanu, Gabirel Giurgiu, Liviu Antal and Silviu Ilie running through the spine of the team, and he will seek to crowd United’s midfield.

Wednesday Oct 19

Chelsea v Genk

Chelsea have made this game a lot easier for themselves by signing Thibaut Courtois in the summer.

The outstanding young goalkeeper was instrumental to Genk winning the Belgian title and is now seen as the long-term heir to Petr Cech at Stamford Bridge (he is on loan with Atletico Madrid this season).

Genk suffered another serious loss in the off season when coach Frank Vercauteren decided to leave to work in Abu Dhabi after the first leg of their Champions League play-off with Maccabi Haifa.

The team squeezed into the group stage via a penalty shout out and Dutch coach Mario Been has taken over.

They managed to hold a strong Valencia side to a goalless draw at their Cristal Arena but lost 2-0 in Leverkusen.

Andre Villas-Boas will want his defence to keep an eye on Jelle Vossen, the Belgium striker who scored 20 goals last season and has hit nine already this campaign.

Marvin Ogunjimi, Vossel’s strike partner, has a growing reputation while the experienced Thomas Buffel is a danger from midfield.

The home fans could also get a first sight of a future Chelsea player in Kevin de Bruyne, a 20-year-old winger who has long been targeted by the club.

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Marseille v Arsenal

Didier Deschamps will have a lot of empathy for Arsène Wenger. It has been a grim start to the season domestically for Marseille with just one win in nine games going into this weekend — and that against 10-man Evian – yet in Europe they have beaten both Olympiakos and Borussia Dortmund to lead the group.

The win over the German champions was something of a freak, however, as Dortmund had 20 shots and dominated possession.

Steve Mandanda, the Marseille goalkeeper, had the game of his life. With the pressure on, the players are not performing.

Stephane M’Bia’s injury and the departure of Taye Taiwo (Milan) and Gabriel Heinze (Roma) in the summer has disrupted the defence.

The previously inspirational Lucho Gonzalez has been playing like a man desperate to leave (Arsenal were a suitor) ever since he was robbed at gunpoint at home earlier this year while Alou Diarra, the France captain signed from Bordeaux, has not settled in midfield.

Andre-Pierre Gignac apparently came back from the summer overweight and, since having a move to Fulham pulled on deadline day, has barely been involved.

While Wenger will be aware of Marseille’s problems he will also know that his defence is vulnerable to the French club’s attacking trio: last season’s outstanding striker Andre Ayew will lead the line, flanked by the pace of Loic Remy and the trickery of Mathieu Valbuena.