Arsenal have emerged as significant beneficiaries of this year’s Champions League draw, with Opta’s supercomputer rating their schedule as one of the most favorable among the 36 clubs in the league stage.

Tottenham, led by Thomas Frank who is embarking on his first Champions League journey after 18 years in coaching, also received a schedule that seems notably less intimidating than many others.

This is only the second year of the Champions League’s expanded 36-team league format, where each club competes against eight different teams, half of the matches at home and the other half away.

Due to the uniqueness of each fixture list, the difficulty level varies significantly. Opta’s supercomputer has analyzed global rankings to determine which teams have gotten the most favorable draws and which ones will face more challenging paths.

For Mikel Arteta’s team, the prospects appear bright. Their lineup features Olympiacos, Slavia Prague, and Kairat Almaty, the champions of Kazakhstan ranked a modest 474th worldwide.

That fixture alone has dragged down the average rating of the Gunners’ opponents and given them the third easiest run of games in the competition.

There are also high-profile matches, especially against Bayern Munich and Inter Milan, yet overall, the fixture list is about as advantageous as Arteta might have wished for.

Tottenham, meanwhile, may feel just as fortunate.

Frank’s side take on Dortmund, Villarreal, Eintracht Frankfurt and Bodø/Glimt, four of the lighter draws available before the ceremony in Monaco.

Add in meetings with Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco and it is still far from straightforward, but compared to what might have been, Spurs are among the winners in the model and rank fourth easiest overall.

Chelsea, back in the competition under Enzo Maresca, have also been handed a generous set of fixtures.

Ajax, Qarabag and debutants Pafos of Cyprus all feature, offering chances to pick up points before tougher tests against Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Napoli.

Liverpool’s schedule mixes glamour with opportunity. Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid will visit Anfield, but there are also meetings with Frankfurt, Marseille and Qarabag that Slot will view as more winnable.

Manchester City, by contrast, sit in the middle. Pep Guardiola’s team face Real Madrid for the fifth consecutive campaign along with Leverkusen, Villarreal, Dortmund, Napoli and Galatasaray.

It is a demanding set but not among the very hardest, and City will be confident of improving on last season’s play-off round exit. 

For Newcastle United, however, the picture is pretty grim.

Eddie Howe’s men have landed one of the five most difficult fixture lists in the entire competition, with Barcelona, PSG, Leverkusen, Benfica, Union Saint-Gilloise and Athletic Bilbao all on the agenda.

That represents five of the eight opponents regarded beforehand as worst-case scenarios for English sides, and will test the depth of a squad still learning European football.

Bayern and PSG will also be aggrieved after emerging as the two teams with the hardest schedules.

Harry Kane and Co must face Arsenal, Sporting Lisbon and a resurgent Union Saint-Gilloise, while PSG have been handed Barcelona, Leverkusen, Tottenham and Newcastle.

At the other end, debutants Pafos and Copenhagen have the joint easiest schedules according to the data, though both are still expected to struggle against the competition’s elite. 

Interestingly, despite being handed the toughest draw last term, Luis Enrique’s men still managed to go on and secure the first European Cup in the club’s history.

For Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool, there is every reason to be optimistic.

For Newcastle, the road to the knockouts looks steep before a ball has even been kicked, though they will take heart from their spirited St James’ Park display the last time they were in the competition in 2023.