English duo wary after Sociedad join goal trail

Julian Draxler fired a warning to Chelsea with Schalke’s second (AFP\Getty)

Having won at the Emirates, Jürgen Klopp’s team continued their resurgence by thrashing Stuttgart 6-1 on Friday courtesy of a hat-trick from Polish striker Robert Lewandowski. That briefly took Dortmund to the top of the Bundesliga until Bayern Munich came from a goal behind to beat Hoffenheim 2-1 on Saturday. However, with a 100 per cent record from their eight matches in all competitions at the Westfalenstadion so far this season, last year’s beaten finalists will start as favourites to take control of Group F and leave Arsenal needing at least a draw from their trip to Napoli.

Before then, victory against Real Sociedad on Tuesday will see Manchester United on the verge of qualifying for the last 16, although they will be taking nothing for granted after their opponents put five past Osasuna in La Liga on Saturday. Five different men were on target as Sociedad moved up to seventh in the table and they will hope to improve on three straight defeats in the club’s first European campaign for a decade.

After failing to qualify in the last two seasons, Manchester City can also take a giant stride towards the knockout stages if they beat CSKA Moscow at the Etihad tomorrow. The Russians have enjoyed an extra few hours to prepare having beaten FC Volga 2-1 in an early kick-off on Saturday, but know they need to win to move back into contention.

Chelsea’s opponents Schalke warmed up for their visit to Stamford Bridge on Wednesday with a routine 2-0 win at Hertha Berlin, with rising star Julian Draxler scoring his first Bundesliga goal of the season.

Celtic will be confident of building on their home victory over Ajax when they visit the Amsterdam Arena on the same night. A home defeat against Vitesse Arnhem saw Frank De Boer’s side slip down to sixth spot in the Eredivisie, although the top eight sides are separated by just three points.