Champions League group stages kick off

Liverpool reason to be confident as they go into their first Champions League group game today against last season's finalists Monaco at Anfield.

The four-times European Cup winners beat West Bromwich Albion 3-0 in the Premiership on Saturday, shaking off some poor early season form that saw losses at Bolton Wanderers in the league and against AK Graz in their Champions League qualifier, second leg.

The French club lost prolific strikers Fernando Morientes, Dado Prso and Ludovic Giuly to other clubs and Liverpool will feel they have every chance of a winning start to their campaign under manager Rafael Benitez, who took over at Anfield in June.

Liverpool England midfielder Steven Gerrard, who is attracting Real Madrid's interest with his sparkling form, is likely to play today despite being substituted by Benitez against Albion on Saturday.

Other Ajax Amsterdam vs Juventus; AS Roma vs Dynamo Kiev; Real Madrid vs Bayer Leverkusen.

Yesterday's matches: Arsenal vs PSV Eindhoven; Panathinaikos vs Rosenborg; Celtic vs Barcelona; Shakhtar Donetsk vs AC Milan; Inter Milan vs Bayern Munich; Fenerbahce vs Sparta Prague; Lyon vs Manchester United