Having already talked up the prospects of the English quartet in our outright Champions League preview, we'll now take the opportunity to asses specific group betting.
Zenit St Petersburg won many admirers for the manner of their maiden European success back in May and they've already followed that up by stunning Manchester United 2-1 in the recent Super Cup in Monaco.
The talented Russian outfit managed to retain all of their high-profile stars during the transfer window - most notably Andrei Arshavin, Anatoliy Tymoschuk and Pavel Pogrebnyak - and the fact they'd rather stay than chase the spotlight in England, Spain or Italy is a sign of how tight their squad is.
Indeed, it was their team spirit, together with their dazzling technical ability, which saw them knock out Villarreal, Marseille, Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich en route to brushing aside Rangers 2-0 in the UEFA Cup final at Eastlands and they're certainly ready for a crack at Europe's elite.
It's important to mention, in particular, how they ousted several of these teams. Against Marseille they were 3-0 down at one stage in the first leg but their heads didn't drop. They snatched an away goal before winning at home 2-0 to progress on away goals.
They blitzed Leverkusen, a strong German side with Champions League pedigree, 4-1 away from home but the best was yet to come against Bayern Munich.
Zenit earned an impressive 1-1 draw at the Allianz Arena before thumping the German champions 4-0 to march into the final. And we all know how they outclassed Rangers at Eastlands despite virtually all the blue half of Glasgow making the trip to Manchester.
One of their main heroes throughout the campaign was Pogrebnyak, who netted 10 goals in Europe to be the competition's joint-top scorer alongside Luca Toni of Bayern Munich.
The Russia international, who missed Euro 2008 through injury, also scored in their Super Cup win over Manchester United so we're expecting him to provide the firepower in their Champions League campaign.
They've been dumped in what on paper looks one of the hardest groups alongside Real Madrid and Juventus, who are widely expected by the bookies to progress to the knockout stage.
However we strongly fancy the defending Russian champions to upset the applecart to finish in the top two - most probably ahead of Juventus and BATE - and the 13/10 with Boylesorts is certainly a good price.
We're not that taken with Juventus at all. Claudio Ranieri's side finished third in a very average Serie A last season and the club haven't even featured in the previous two Champions League group stages so Zenit have little reason to fear them.
As for Real Madrid, they haven't got it right in Europe for quite some time having been knocked out in the second round in reach of the last four seasons. They always manage to survive the groups but not always in top spot.
Last season they just about edged out Olympiakos despite having the same number of points but in the three years before that they were runners-up in their group.
Therefore even taking Zenit at a general price of 4/1 to top Group H shouldn't be dismissed whatsoever.
Moving into Group E, Celtic look a decent bet at 13/8 with Coral to progress to the knockout phase.
The Scottish champions have a formidable home record in the competition - especially in the group stages - and we feel they've got enough in their locker to edge out Villarreal for second spot behind Manchester United.
Last season they qualified for the last 16 having won all three games at Parkhead - including a fine triumph over AC Milan - and got away with losing every one of their away ties.
It was exactly the same story in the campaign before that, where even Manchester United fell victim to the passionate Parkhead atmosphere.
As is the case with Liverpool at Anfield, top clubs from abroad always seem to have a problem with coping with big European nights on Celtic's patch and they must not be underestimated.
Sure, it could well be just a mental thing, but whatever the case it works in the Hoops' favour and it's a huge factor when betting on their games.
You can't even rule out another famous win over the defending European champions although we probably can assume their away record will be poor again. For that reason alone we won't back them to top the group at 12/1.
Realistically it's fair to say the Red Devils have got it easy in this group and it's no surprise to see them as short as 3/10 to finish top while Villarreal are a best of 7/2 in the same market.
'The Yellow Submarine', available at 1/2 to qualify, are regarded as a tough Spanish outfit but they hardly took the UEFA Cup by storm last year despite being heavily tipped to go the distance so Gordon Strachan's outfit shouldn't really be overly concerned about them.
Aalborg from Denmark make up the group having defeated Kaunas 4-0 on aggregate in their qualifier. Celtic will arguably need six points against the Danes to progress this time and therefore break their travelling curse, but we're more than confident they can do it.
Added to this, even Man Utd boss Sir Alex Ferguson believes Celtic's home record gives them a "terrific chance" of progression and who can possibly argue with him?
He said: "Anyone going to Celtic Park now is saying 'you've got to beat that atmosphere and the energy they spend in their games'. So there are a lot of plus points for them in that way."
Meanwhile Bayern Munich return to the Champions League having missed out last season and they've been installed as the 11/8 favourites to top Group F.
Their main challengers for this honour will be Lyon and Fiorentina, with Steaua Bucharest understandably the rank outsiders.
It's the same old story for French champions Lyon, who have a habit of impressing us throughout the group stages but then stumble in disappointing fashion when it really matters and you have to wonder if they'll ever lift European football's biggest prize.
Several of their prominent players over the years including Juninho are now perhaps slightly past their best but the quality is still there to do some damage. And in striker Karim Benzema they have a star of the present and future.
In four of the last five seasons they have topped their group, even when up against the likes of Real Madrid, so we feel the 2/1 with Pagebet is a cracking price for Claude Puel's men to do this again.
Last time out Les Gones denied Rangers on the final matchday at Ibrox to sneak through behind Barcelona - who they beat - but that will only have taught them not to be so complacent following years of comfortable progression.
Since then they clinched their seventh straight French crown and are predictably going strong once again this season. They are a club determined to finally last the pace in Europe while we feel Bayern are easy to overestimate.
The German champions have stuttered in the opening weeks of their domestic season and having seen them capitulate against Zenit in the UEFA Cup last season, they don't have the air of superiority they once possessed.
Our final bet comes in Group D where we're surprised to see Marseille as big as 2/1 to qualify with Bet Fred.
Liverpool, based on their recent track record in Europe, are understandably clear favourites to progress but we all know how they can often make such hard work at of some of the easiest tasks. Just take their qualifier against Standard Liege as a prime example.
In last season's competition, Marseille grabbed a dramatic triumph at Anfield before throwing all their hard work out of the window when being gunned down 4-0 by the Reds in the final group match, meaning they agonisingly dropped into the UEFA Cup.
This time, in what is seemingly a pretty evenly-matched pool, we feel they have enough about them to edge past Atletico Madrid, the second favourites, and PSV Eindhoven.
For Atletico this will be their maiden Champions League campaign and it's fair to say they were a huge disappointment in the UEFA Cup last term, being knocked out by Gary Megson's Bolton having failed to score a single goal over the two legs.
Marseille have started their domestic campaign in a positive manner and we're confident their experiences from last term will make them all the more stroner.