English teams have dominated the Champions League so far, with Liverpool being one of the biggest winners. They were the only English team to play an opponent drawn from pot one and secured a win. The Premier League's dominance was absolute, with English teams collectively out-shooting their opponents 102-44, putting 28 more efforts on target, and having 24 shots deemed by Opta to be big chances while conceding only five.
The numbers from the first round of the league phase point to Italian teams struggling, even if Inter impressed in defeat at Real Madrid. Inter dominated Real Madrid with 57 touches in the opposition penalty area, a tally that has only been topped once in the Premier League this season. However, Real Madrid mustered an enormous nine big chances, missing seven of them, so might have won far more comfortably with sharper finishing.
The early weeks of the season have seen few surprises, with only two wins secured by the underdog according to bookmakers. The surprise of the week based on pre-match prediction was Real Betis winning 3-2 at Lille, but they are still ranked 49th and 52nd respectively in Opta's Power Rankings.
Liverpool will look to build on this win and continue their dominance in the Champions League.