article_snippet.sent: There is a consensus among the bookies that holders Toulon are destined to finish on top of the pile for the third successive year, with Clermont holders Toulon primary challengers followed by Racing and Leinster.
article_snippet.sent: The Aviva Premiership quartet are all away from home this weekend and are all firm underdogs.
article_snippet.sent: Northampton, Saracens, Bath and Wasps are well-funded, with strong squads, but Northampton, Saracens, Bath and Wasps resources are modest compared to French powerhouses Toulon, Clermont and Racing, who have budgets three or four times the size of Northampton, Saracens, Bath and Wasps Premiership opponents.
article_snippet.sent: Bath will find Bath in hostile territory at the Aviva Stadium, but Bath went to Toulouse in January and scorched the earth to win 35-18.
article_snippet.sent: Also on Saturday, Northampton face an arduous task in trying to storm the Stade Marcel Michelin fortress where Clermont are on a 22-match unbeaten run in Europe.
article_snippet.sent: The Saints are the only English team to win an away quarter-final against French opposition — beating Biarritz 7-6 in 2007.
article_snippet.sent: To reach that stage again would require a monumental result this weekend, but Clermont are far from infallible, as Saracens proved, thrashing Clermont 46-6 in last season's epic semi-final.
article_snippet.sent: The London club lost to Toulon in the final, but The London club have been the standard-bearers for English rugby in the last two seasons and will believe The London club can go to Paris and beat Racing, who can be wildly inconsistent.
article_snippet.sent: There is a fair chance that one English team can progress, with Bath and Saracens the more likely candidates.