the champions league is back and this tuesday and wednesday we have 16 great games to feast upon between the regular meat and drink of weekend domestic football.
all 32 sides are in action, with spurs travelling to bayer leverkusen, leicester hosting copenhagen, arsenal at home to ludogorets, real madrid taking on legia warsaw and the little matter of barcelona versus man city.
that last match is clearly the one that football fans everywhere will be looking forward to. pep guardiola returning to the nou camp to take on his former side could be a classic and will certainly give us an idea of how far man city have come since the catalan took charge.
we’ve got betting tips, analysis and odds comparison for five of the biggest games of the round, so read on for our champions league betting predictions.
barcelona welcome city to the nou camp and guardiola is sure to get a warm reception. he was brought to city to win the champions league and this game will give us a real indication of his side’s chances.
barcelona are formidable on home soil and they are the clear favourites here. you can back luis enrique’s men at best betting odds of 4/7 with sportingbet, whilst the draw is available at 62/17 with pinnacle and city are 24/5 with betfair.
barca have won both of their group c matches whilst city have four points, having beaten monchengladbach and drawn 3-3 at celtic. this has been a very high scoring group thus far, with a total of 20 goals from the four games played thus far.
we predict this will be another thriller and with the home side looking just a shade short in the match odds, our betting tip here is to back goals instead. both sides are better going forward and with city unlikely to take a defensive approach we think over 3.5 goals is well worth a bet here at nice odds of 5/4 with coral.
spurs face a tricky game on tuesday night as they travel to germany to face leverkusen, who beat borussia dortmund in their last bundesliga home game.
group e is a strong foursome, with monaco and cska moscow also battling things out. the french side beat spurs in london but then mauricio pochettino’s men won in russia, whilst leverkusen have played out score draws against both of those teams.
the germans are warm favourites at best betting odds of 5/4 (sportingbet) but we think the outsiders can get the points here. tottenham were brilliant in beating man city before the international break and at odds of 53/21 with pinnacle we predict they can cause an upset here.
leverkusen are only sixth in the german top flight and with spurs full of confidence they have the youthful verve to gain a massive win that could see them move top of the group. pochettino’s men began the season slowly but they are hitting top gear now and can make it back to back away wins in the champions league on tuesday.
the gunners are another side who have put a slow start behind them and, prior to the weekend’s game against swansea, they are unbeaten in nine, winning seven. this is perhaps their easiest game in group a and given goal difference could yet decide who tops the group, they will look for a big win.
we predict they will deliver one too and whilst arsenal look a banker at odds of 1/6 with william hill, we’re looking for a far bigger return. psg beat the bulgarians 3-1 in eastern europe but we think the gunners can better that.
if you fancy an upset the visitors are priced at best betting odds of 25/1 but we can only see one winner and our betting tip is arsenal to win by exactly three goals at nice odds of 7/2 with bet365.
leicester are taking the champions league by storm and should record another three points on tuesday when copenhagen come to the east midlands. leicester have maximum points thus far and another win here would almost assure their spot in the next phase.
the foxes are priced at odds of 10/11 with coral, with the draw priced at 13/5 with unibet and the visitors available at betting odds of 4/1. claudio ranieri’s men may be struggling in the premier league but they are having no such problems in europe.
they still have the surprise factor in the champions league and have been really impressive so far. copenhagen have done well too and sit second in group g with four points but our betting tip here is very simple.
leicester have won two games to nil in the group so far and we think they’ll make that three. back leicester to win and keep a clean sheet at nice odds of 19/10 with betvictor.
real madrid versus legia warsaw is a real mismatch and the poles will be travelling with the simple aim of avoiding a thrashing. sadly for them, we think they will be upset on tuesday night and, following their 6-0 home defeat against borussia dortmund, things could be about to get even worse.
real regularly put sides to the sword at the bernabeu and although they haven’t been at their most rampant – yet – this term, we are predicting a huge win here. madrid are unbackable at 1/28 in the match odds, with the poles available at 100/1 with betfair.
some may be tempted by legia at that crazy price but we’re opting instead for a high scoring home win, with real to score 5+ goals priced at 11/10 with coral.