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Champions League 25/26 Betting Tips & Preview

11th September 2025
UEFA Champions league Trophy 25/26

It’s been an action packed start to the season and you have to wonder if certain players and certain teams will last the distance. 

We had the first ever extended Club World Cup over the summer, with the new season starting what seemed like almost immediately after that had finished. The season had barely begun before us having the first international break. The players are straight back on to the league at the weekend before the first Champions League action of the season.

How will the small break affect the Club World Cup teams? Will winners Chelsea perform this season? Will Champions League winners PSG repeat last season’s victory? 

Champions League Winner Betting Odds (Selected odds)

Liverpool 6/1 (Coral)

Barcelona 6/1 (Ladbrokes)

PSG 13/2 (Bet365)

Arsenal 15/2 (BetFred)

Real Madrid 8/1 (Bet365)

Man City 9/1 (Bet365)

Bayern Munich 12/1 (Bet365)

Chelsea 12/1 (BetFred)

Napoli 25/1 (Coral)

Atletico Madrid 33/1 (Ladbrokes)

Tottenham 33/1 (BetFred)

Newcastle 33/1 (Bet365)

Juventus 50/1 (BetFred)

Bar 80/1 

(Please note all all odds shown are correct at time of publishing)

According to the bookies odds, it is an 8-horse race, and we really don’t see anyone out of that top 8 winning it. So let’s try and and narrow these eight down.

We think Chelsea will be the most tired come the end of the season and have the youngest squad. They are definitely ones to look out for in future years, but not this season.

PSG we think have weakened their squad over the summer, and only the very best teams retain a Champions League. That isn’t this PSG team, as impressive as they were.

We don’t think this Bayern Munich team is the strongest it has been over the last few years, so we are going to rule them too.

Man City still look very much a team in transition, so they can leave the equation.

Arsenal are always runners up at best, and we don’t see them winning it this time round, despite some impressive transfer business over the summer.

Which leaves Liverpool, Barcelona and Real Madrid. We think the winner comes from these three. And it often does, too. Real Madrid top the list of Champions League titles, with a ridiculous 15. Liverpool are joint third on the list with 6, and Barcelona are fifth on the list with 5.

It’s hard to say Madrid won’t win it with how often they turn it on in the Champions League, but we do feel Barca have the edge on them at the minute.

Liverpool were incredible in the Premier League and have done excellent business in the summer, so we’d not put anyone off betting on them.

But Barcelona is where our money is going. They have some excellent players in Raphinha, Pedri, Lewandowski, etc. But right now Lamine Yamal looks like the best player in the world. They were extremely unlucky last season to lose in the Semi-Final against Inter Milan last season, but we think they can do it this time.

 

Top Goalscorer (Selected) (All Bet365 odds)

Erling Haaland 6/1

Kylian Mbappe 7/1

Robert Lewandowski 8/1

Mohammed Salah 10/1

Harry Kane 10/1

Alexander Isak 12/1

Viktor Gyokeres 14/1

Ousmane Dembele 14/1

Hugo Ekitike 16/1

Raphinha 16/1

Lamine Yamal 20/1

It’s incredibly difficult to pick a top goalscorer in any competition, but looking to past competitions might give an indication. Barcelona were the top scorers in the competition last season with 43 goals, ahead of winners PSG in second, who scored 38. As we are predicting Barca to win it, you’d expect Raphinha (who last season scored the joint most goals and got the most assists) could be high up there again, as could Lewandowski who scored 11 last season, while Yamal will surely get more than last season’s 5.

Harry Kane was up there with 11 and will no doubt go close again; he was also joint topscorer in the 23/24 season. Mo Salah and Erling Haaland are always both up there, but we are going to have some on Kylian Mbappe. Now he has settled in at Madrid, we fancy him to get a load of goals this season.

He got 44 goals in 59 games in his debut season for Real Madrid, he has 3 in 3 so far this season, and at the grand old age of 26 he has just become France’s record goalscorer, overtaking the legendary Thierry Henry. He is a goal machine and is well worth a bet at 7/1, especially as we expect Madrid to go far in the competition.

We are also going to have a token few quid on Lamine Yamal, as 20/1 is too big for a player of his talent.

 

How Far Will Go Will The English Teams Go?

We really don’t see Newcastle or Spurs going very far at all, but could get out of the group stage with a little luck. Some could argue that it is farcical that a team who finished 17th (Spurs) in the Premier League last season are even in the Champions League in the first place, while Newcastle have lost their best player, Alexander Isak.
 
Isak, of course, went to Liverpool who also signed Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong and Milos Kerkez amongst others, and their squad looks incredibly strong. Do not be surprised if they go all the way.
 
Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City will all have high hopes, of course, but realistically, if any of them get to the Semi-Final or Final, it will have been a great campaign for them.

Other Bets

Finally, we like a little acca here too. This is for teams to finish between 9th and 24th places in the Champions League Group Stage. 8 teams qualify automatically for the first knockout stage, while 12 teams are knocked out.
 
The 16 teams in the “middle” of it, places 9-24, go into a playoff to determine which 8 teams will join the top 8 in the first knockout phase.
 
It’s important to understand the distinction here, that this acca purposely leaves out the top sides, who we’d expect to finish in the top 8.
You can find the market on Bet365 at “Soccer”, then “Outrights”, then “Champions League” and finally “To Finish 9-24 in League Stage”.
The teams we have put together on Bet365 are these: Borussia Dortmund 4/9, Newcastle 1/2, Tottenham 1/2, Athletic Bilbao 8/13, and Benfica 10/11, which at the time of publishing comes to odds of 9.02/1, meaning a stake of £10 would give returns of £100.22 should all selections finish 9-24 in the league stage.  

Betting Recommendations

Barcelona to win the Champions League 6/1 (Ladbrokes) – 5 points

Kylian Mbappe to be top goalscorer 7/1 (Bet365) – 3 points

Lamine Yamal to be top goalscorer 20/1 (Bet365) – 1 point

Acca for all teams to finish 9th to 24th in the League Stage: Borussia Dortmund 4/9, Newcastle 1/2, Tottenham 1/2, Athletic Bilbao 8/13, and Benfica 10/11, which at the time of publishing = 9.02/1 – 2 points