Four English teams to make Champions Cup Quarter-Finals – Andy Goode

Saracens may be in a Champions Cup group of death but they are heavy favourites for a reason and I’m backing them to emulate Toulon and lift a third straight title.

Every group is so tough to call and that shows how strong the competition has become and how much it’s grown in recent years.

I expect Toulon to qualify from Pool 5 with Bath or Scarlets also coming through as a best runner-up. The pool with the Italian team in it normally provides two quarter-finalists and the tournament will be even more competitive next season when teams only qualify from the PRO14 on merit.

Scarlets are PRO14 champions and have made a really good start to this season, losing just one game so far, so I expect them just to have the edge over Bath.

The other pool that I think two teams will definitely get out of is Pool 4 as Castres are the weakest of the French sides involved this season. Racing aren’t in the best form in the Top 14 either and I think Leicester and Munster will both make it through.

Racing’s performance against Leicester in Round 1 will dictate their interest level in the competition and I expect them to fare better than they did last season but I fancy Tigers to get through along with the men from Thomond Park.

Pool 2 contains both of the finalists from last season, which is fairly ludicrous. Ospreys are likely to be the whipping boys in that group, given that they’ve lost 11 of their last 13 games since the end of March. Northampton will put up a good fight but I expect Saracens and Clermont to show their pedigree at this level and both come through.

Northampton against Saracens at Franklin’s Gardens is going to be a bit special this weekend after what happened at Twickenham on the opening day of the Premiership campaign. Dylan Hartley will have his team really fired up and that one will be an absolute war.

I just don’t see a weakness in this Saracens side though and they will go and suffocate the life out of Saints. There hasn’t been much love lost between the two teams since the Premiership final in 2014 and it will be an emotionally charged game with Calum Clark going back to his old club as well but I just think Sarries will edge it.

If you lose your first game at home, the writing isn’t fully on the wall but the pen is certainly out and that could be the situation Northampton find themselves after this weekend.

We all know Exeter’s pedigree know as Premiership champions and they had a difficult draw in Europe last season with Clermont in their group. This one looks even tougher but I think they might just be the ones to emerge from Pool 3.

Their game against Glasgow at Sandy Park on Saturday night will be an absolute cracker and that will set the tone for them. The Warriors are unbeaten in the PRO14 and Leinster have only lost one game as well so it’s a ridiculously tough pool but I’m backing the Chiefs to qualify.

Montpellier are missing Aaron Cruden this weekend and that’ll hinder them because they’re a completely different beast when he plays. I think they have the squad to compete at the top table in Europe now but they don’t have that European mentality or pedigree, so I think they’ll miss out.

Every team in Pool 1 could realistically win through to the knockout stages. I think they’ll all beat each other, though, so only one team will qualify and I can’t back against Wasps, despite their current injury crisis.

La Rochelle topped the Top 14 last season and will be a real threat but they are still something of an unknown quantity in this competition as it’s their first season in the top tier. They will be seriously tough to beat over in France and can compete in that group but a lot will depend on their first two results in terms of how much interest they have in the competition.

Winning all your home games and sneaking an away victory and a couple of bonus points on the road is the tried and tested recipe for getting out of your pool in the Champions Cup nowadays and there’s very little room for error now that the quality is so high across the board.

I think this year we’ll see a team qualify with the lowest ever points total as a best placed runner-up in the history of the competition because the standard has gone through the roof.

It’s hard to look past the pair that reached the final last year in terms of my pick to win the title but I just think the depth Saracens have and the culture at the club sets them apart and I think they will go on to match Toulon’s historic feat of three consecutive European Cup victories.

The pool stages will be full of the usual twists and turns starting with an epic contest at the Kingspan Stadium tonight. Ulster may well win that battle but I expect Wasps to win the war and Clermont, Saracens, Exeter, Leicester, Munster, Toulon and Scarlets to join them in the knockout stages come January.