We look at some key markets and betting patterns as the biggest club competition starts again.
You’ve probably been singing the theme tune all day, but soon you’ll be able to hear it in all the biggest stadiums across Europe. The Champions League is back!
Once again we have four English teams flying the flag. Two previous winners in Liverpool and Manchester United join Spurs and Man City as 31 teams look to wrestle the trophy away from Real Madrid.
We’ve looked at some of the biggest markets surrounding the competition and will show you where Oddschecker users are putting their money…
WINNER
You might expect Real Madrid to top this, considering they are back-to-back-to-back winners? Wrong! It’s Pep Guardiola’s Man City (11/2 fav) that have had the most bets placed on them, with 19% of the share. Next up are Juventus (8/1), who no doubt believe that Cristiano Ronaldo can fire them to glory. They have had 18% of bets.
Liverpool (12/1) are third most backed, with Atletico Madrid (16/1) fourth. Real (9/1) are way down in sixth, with punters thinking that a changing of the guard may be imminent.
TOP SCORER
He may have had a quiet World Cup, but Robert Lewandowski (12/1) is somewhat surprisingly the best backed player for top scorer, and by some margin. He’s had 37% of total bets, more than double that of the next player on the list, Cristiano Ronaldo (7/1). Lionel Messi (5/1 fav) is third with 9% of the bets, with Mo Salah (12/1) the most backed English club player.
MAN CITY
We’ve already said how City are being backed to win the tournament, and it’s no surprise to see the Citizens also being backed to win Group F (2/9). A whopping 95% of bets in the group have gone on City to top the standings and it would be a huge shock if anything else happened.
SPURS
Mauricio Pochettino’s side face a huge task to get out of Group B, and are second favourites to top it (3/1). This might explain why punters are ignoring them, with just 14% of total bets to win their group and 2% of bets to win the whole thing (28/1);.
LIVERPOOL
PSG, Napoli and Red Star await Jurgen Klopp’s Reds, who have been backed by 55% of bets to win Group C (8/5). They got to the final last year, but it is a tough ask for them to repeat that feat.
MAN UNITED
The two-time Champions League winner Jose Mourinho faces an unusual situation in that United are underdogs to win Group H (10/3) and the tournament as a whole (30/1). Punters agree with the bookies, and only 13% of bets have gone on the Red Devils to win their group, and have had 4% of bets to win it all.
