English trio begin their Women's Champions League campaigns this week

The Women's Champions League group stage begins this week with three WSL clubs, including the reigning champions, in action.

Arsenal begin their defence of the title on Tuesday evening with Chelsea and debutants Manchester United involved on Wednesday.

Playmaker takes a look at the English clubs' opening week...

Arsenal vs. OL Lyonnes

It's been a difficult start to the season for Renée Slegers' team. After a superb half season under their new manager, in which they clinched a shock Champions League victory in Lisbon, they are now three games without a win in the WSL.

The Gunners were unable to break Manchester United down, suffered a late equaliser to Aston Villa, and then at the weekend suffered a 3-2 defeat away to Manchester City with Iman Beney striking in the 88th minute.

Should Arsenal not manage a win at home to OL Lyonnes Women who will not be an easy opposition, it will be the first time they have done four games without a win since the last time it happened from December 2021 to January 2022.

The French side, now managed by former Barcelona head coach Jonatan Giráldez, have started their season well so far with four wins in as many games. Arsenal's defence will have to be ready for a Lyon attack that includes Ada Hegerberg and Tabitha Chawinga.

Of course, this is a rematch of last season's Champions League semi-final when Arsenal put in a superb performance to overturn their first leg 2-1 deficit to win 4-1 and 5-3 on aggregate in the second leg in France.

FC Twente vs. Chelsea

The Blues underlined their domestic dominance last season with Sonia Bompastor's side lifting all three trophies available to them.

But one thing that remains elusive is European glory, so watching Arsenal stun Barcelona in the final last season would surely have stung even more.

Chelsea's 100% start to the season was halted on Friday night after a 1-1 draw with Manchester United but the London side remained top of the table. The London side will expect to be back to winning ways against FC Twente.

While Twente are one of the best sides in the Netherlands, it's hard to imagine them troubling Chelsea. Indeed, these two met in the group stages, the WSL side managed a 3-1 win away from home before a 6-1 hammering at home.

A win is expected from Chelsea and they will be looking to underline why they are one of the favourites this season.

Manchester United vs. Vålerenga 

The Red Devils make their debut in the competition proper at long last and will face Norwegian opposition once again.

Marc Skinner's side overcame a 1-0 defeat away to Brann last month and won 3-0 at home with Norway native Elisabeth Terland scoring a hat-trick against her former side.

United remain undefeated in the WSL so far this season and despite dropping from second in the table to fourth, they will be happy with their performance against Chelsea last time out. Anna Sandberg scored a superb leveller in a game that the Manchester side could have won on another night.

Vålerenga Women are a good opponent for United's first league stage game considering the game against Brann and also against Swedish side Hammarby previously, while the likes of OL Lyonnes and Wolfsburg still to come but this will once again put the relatively small squad size under the microscope.

Last time out against Chelsea, United were able to field a far healthier bench but is the squad big enough for the kind of rotation that will allow them to stay fresh and fight on two fronts? We'll soon find out...