Liverpool fail to join the top seeds despite automatic place

LIVERPOOL will not be among the top seeds in today’s Champions League despite having qualified automatically for Europe’s top club competition.

Gerard Houllier's side were one of the top eight seeds last year, when they had to qualify after finishing third in the Premiership, but this season they will have to settle for being one of the eight teams in the second rank.

Arsenal and Manchester United will both be among the top seeds, meaning they will avoid playing the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in the first group stage.