The battle to be the kings of European football starts in earnest in September when the league phase of the UEFA Champions League kicks into action across the whole continent.
The question on everyone’s lips will be who can stop Paris Saint-Germain from claiming the title for a third successive season and the Racing Post's Ian Wilkerson believes Arsenal are capable of doing that after going through the whole of last season’s competition without being beaten before falling to the Ligue 1 outfit on penalties in the final.
While the Gunners have yet to win the trophy, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Barcelona all know what is needed to claim UEFA Champions League glory and it promises to be yet another highly competitive race.
UEFA Champions League Tips and Predictions
Outright Prediction: Arsenal to win the UEFA Champions League (6/1)
Alternative Tip: Manchester City to win the UEFA Champions League (9/1)
Dark Horse Tip: Inter Milan to win the UEFA Champions League (28/1)
Opening League Stage Fixtures
Here are the opening fixtures of the league stage of this season’s Champions League.
There will be 18 fixtures in all with the clash between Real Madrid and Serie A champions Inter Milan catching the eye on the first day of competition on Tuesday 8th September.
Liverpool entertain Atletico Madrid the following night as last season’s runners-up Arsenal head to Italy to take on Napoli, while Manchester United begin their campaign with a home clash against Sabah from Azerbaijan.
Tuesday 8th September
- AEK Athens v LASK
- Club Brugge v Aston Villa
- Borussia Dortmund v Villarreal
- Porto v Manchester City
- Lille v Real Betis
- Real Madrid v Inter Milan
Wednesday 9th September
- Barcelona v Feyenoord
- Stuttgart v Viking
- Liverpool v Atletico Madrid
- Napoli v Arsenal
- Paris Saint-Germain v Slovan Bratislava
- Sporting Lisbon v Galatasaray
Thursday 10th September
- Fenerbahce v Roma
- PSV Eindhoven v Shakhtar Donetsk
- Bayern Munich v Bodo/Glimt
- Como v RB Leipzig
- Manchester United v Sabah
- Slavia Prague v Lens
UEFA Champions League Favourites
Odds will display when the market is available.
After winning the UEFA Champions League in each of the last two seasons, it is no surprise to see Paris Saint-Germain at the head of the betting at 5/1, while last year’s runners-up Arsenal, Barcelona and Bayern Munich can all be backed at 6/1 with Real Madrid at 13/2.
Of the Premier League teams involved, Manchester City are 9/1, Liverpool 12/1, Manchester United 20/1 and Europa League winners Aston Villa 40/1.
Top Goalscorer Favourites
Some of the world’s greatest attacking talent will be in action in the UEFA Champions League this season and Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe is favourite to be top goalscorer at 7/2.
He scored 15 goals in last season’s competition while Bayern Munich’s Harry Kane, who scored 14, is 7/1 and Manchester City’s Norwegian goal machine Erling Haaland is 8/1.
Data-Led UEFA Champions League Predictions & Analytics
When diving deeper into potential outcomes, advanced metrics like xGF (expected goals for) and clean sheet percentage give a more predictive edge than headline form.
Here’s what the data tells us about some of the contenders:
- Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya had a clean-sheet percentage of 64.3 in last year’s competition as the Gunners conceded just three goals in seven knockout matches
- Bodo/Glimt are a team to keep an eye on in shots markets as their shot-on-target percentage of 45.5 was the second highest behind Newcastle, who have not qualified for this year’s competition
- Both teams to score is worth considering for some of the big guns following last year’s competition. The matches involving Bayern Munich (86%), Barcelona (83%), Atletico Madrid (81%), Paris Saint-Germain (71%) and Real Madrid (64%) all scoring highly in this area
- Bayern Munich had the greatest expected-goals-for (xGF) figure in last year’s competition with a total of 37.44 in their 14 matches
- Liverpool and this year’s non-qualifiers Chelsea had the lowest expected-goals-against (xGA) mark of 11.44
UEFA Champions League Outright Prediction
Paris Saint-Germain look the team to beat in this year’s competition, and while they deservedly beat Arsenal in last season’s final, the Gunners appear to have strengthened enough to give themselves a real chance of winning the competition for the first time.
The Gunners won all eight of their league-stage matches last season and have boosted their squad with the additions of Ezri Konsa, Bruno Guimaraes and Christos Tzolis.
Mikel Arteta’s team had the tightest defence in last season’s competition and look better equipped to fight it out on multiple fronts, so don’t be surprised if they manage to go one better.
Alternative Tip
All the usual suspects can be found at the top of the betting, but one team who have fallen down the list a little is Manchester City, who represent some decent value.
Pep Guardiola’s departure probably explains a lot of that reasoning and they have also seen influential midfielder Rodri leave, but replacement Enzo Maresca was earmarked as the man to initiate a smooth transition and they still have plenty of attacking ability.
Centre forward Erling Haaland is right up there with the best centre forwards in the world and they can attack with real pace and penetration, so they could become a force even among Europe’s elite.
Dark Horses to Watch
Liverpool are a team who could grow into the season as new manager Andoni Iraola gets his feet under the table and La Liga will be strongly represented, especially by Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, but the team who appeal best as dark horses are Inter Milan.
hey won both the Scudetto and the Coppa Italia last season and have reached two of the last four finals, so retaking Europe’s top crown appears a realistic aim for a team who have won Serie A in two of the last three seasons.
They have signed three England internationals this summer in Curtis Jones, Djed Spence and John Stones, and after a shock playoff exit to Bodo/Glimt last season, they should be hungry to do a lot better in the continent’s premier competition this time.
Who Wins the UEFA Champions League?
Paris Saint-Germain will be confident they can win the UEFA Champions League again but will face stiff competition from Bayern Munich and Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid.
However, there is plenty of scope for Arsenal to continue improving and they can go one better than they did last season after strengthening their squad even further this summer.
Read more football betting tips and predictions on site.
This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
