What Are The Odds of an All-English Champions League Final?
With holders Chelsea and this season’s favourites Manchester City having competed in last year’s Champions League final, it is perhaps no surprise football betting sites are expecting another English winner this season.
Chelsea upset the odds with a 1-0 win over City in Porto last May but Pep Guardiola’s side are tipped to bounce back this year at a best price of 9/4 as favourites in this season’s Champions League outright odds, which are especially interesting to keep an eye on because of our Champions League betting offers.
Both City and Liverpool already have one foot in the quarter-finals after impressive first-leg wins away to Sporting Lisbon and Inter Milan respectively. Hence, they occupy the top two spots in the betting with Jurgen Klopp’s side a best price of 4/1.
Retaining the Champions League is no easy feat, which may explain Chelsea’s price of 9/1 with William Hill, despite a straightforward-looking tie against Lille with the Blues hosting the French side this Tuesday.
Thomas Tuchel’s side have underwhelmed of late – with the exception of winning the Club World Cup – but punters may see value in their odds as a return to the sort of form they showcased in the opening stages of the season would put them well into contention for back-to-back European Cups.
Meanwhile, Manchester United’s task against Atletico Madrid may look daunting on paper, but Diego Simeone’s La Liga champions have been out of sorts all season and sneaked through the group sages by the skin of their teeth.
Granted, Man Utd can also consider themselves fortunate to be in the knockout stages, but Ralf Rangnick’s side seem to have a found an extra gear just in time for the Champions League’s return, hence their odds of 8/13 (Bet365) to advance.
United range from 18/1 to 25/1 with UK bookmakers but odds of 35/1 can be found on betting exchange sites, highlighting a lack of faith in the fallen giants among punters.
However, football is a funny old game and when you have five-time Champions League winner Cristiano Ronaldo in your ranks, it would be foolish to totally discount them.
MansionBet, 10Bet and Boylesports all offer an industry-price best of 10/1 on United making the final, while Cristiano Ronaldo is 22/1 (Unibet) to finish up top goalscorer in this season’s tournament.
Two-time European Cup winner Ian Rush, who won it with Liverpool in 1981 and 1984, expects United to be in the last eight along with each of their Premier League rivals.
“I think we’ll see all four English teams in the quarter-finals this year,” he told Gambling.com.
“Manchester United were a bit lucky to have made the last 16 but they’ve had a couple of good wins recently and are showing some signs of confidence.
“Atletico might look at Manchester United and fancy their chances, but Simeone’s side look weak this year. I would expect Manchester United and Chelsea to make it to the next round, simply because the Premier League is the strongest division in world football.”
"Pep’s Worst Nightmare"
Rush is obviously rooting for his old side Liverpool and believes Man City boss Pep Guardiola will be dreading a two-legged tie against the Reds at the quarter or semi-final stage.
“I think an English team will win the Champions League, but I couldn’t tell you which one,” he said.
“City have a great chance, but I think Pep’s worst nightmare would be to get drawn against Liverpool over two legs.”
The two sides are already engaged in a title race, which became a whole lot more interesting over the weekend as Liverpool gained three points on the Citizens to improve their Premier League odds.
However, Rush says City should be more fixated on the Champions League, a trophy they’re yet to win despite enormous investment in the squad over the past 15 years.
“If you were to ask Manchester City supporters if they’d rather win the Premier League or the Champions League, most of them would say the Champions League because they haven’t won it yet and they’ve won plenty of league titles of late,” said Rush.
“It’s a similar situation at PSG. Their owners in the Middle East really want to win the Champions League after enormous investment. They know they’re going to win the French league, so all they want is the one that’s missing.
“Similarly, if you were to ask Liverpool supporters which one they’d rather win this season, I bet most would pick the Premier League as we’ve only won one league title in recent years and we want more.”
Fans are quite rightly dreaming of both, with Bet365 offering 11/4 on City doing a Premier League and Champions League double, while Liverpool are 22/1 to do achieve the same feat.
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