The 2022/23 UEFA Champions League is now very much in full swing and already we’ve seen a few surprising results as the best teams in Europe commence the battle to be named European champions.
The group stages of Europe’s top tier competition have commenced and it was a mixed start for English clubs in the competition, Liverpool and Chelsea losing against Napoli (4-1) and Dinamo Zagreb (1-0) while Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur enjoyed wins-to-nil over Sevilla (4-0) and Marseille (2-0) respectively.
With Liverpool struggling with some less than impressive form in their domestic campaign, the Champions League has thus far offered little in the way of respite. Nevertheless, Jurgen Klopp’s men bounced back from their opening defeat by edging past Ajax in their second European outing, Joël Matip securing all three points by scoring the match winner in the 89th minute.
On the back of this victory, the Reds are one of three sides in Group A to have collected three points and they sit second in the group after two rounds of fixtures with goal difference separating them from table-topping Napoli. The leading betting sites make Klopp’s men odds-on favourites at 4/6 to finish at the summit of their group and 7/1 to win the tournament outright despite their shaky start to the campaign, however the team clearly need to put their inconsistencies to one side if they wish to go as far in the competition as they did last term.
Tottenham Hotspur sit second in Group D after two rounds of fixtures, the North Londoners following up their 2-0 win over Marseille with defeat by the same scoreline away to Sporting. Indeed, Sporting sit at the top of this group with a perfect record of two wins from two games although second-placed Tottenham Hotspur remain slight favourites to proceed through to the knockout stages of the competition as group winners at general odds of Evens.
In Group E, Chelsea are struggling to find their feet with the Blues picking up just a single point from their opening two matches. The West Londoners lost 1-0 to Dinamo Zagreb in their first group outing and they could only manage a share of the spoils against RB Salzburg in Graham Potter’s first game in charge. On the back of this disappointing start, Chelsea sit at the foot of their group although they are second favourites behind AC Milan to finish in pole position at a general 11/8, many of the leading bookmakers offering a wide range of free bets on the Blues as they look to go deeper into the tournament.
Manchester City have never before been crowned European champions and while they were early season favourites to lift the trophy in 2021/22, they were sent crashing out of the competition at the semi-final stage by subsequent winners Real Madrid. Pep Guardiola’s men are once again fancied to go all the way in the 2022/23 renewal and they have got things off to a flying start with back-to-back wins over Sevilla (0-4) and Borussia Dortmund (2-1) in their opening two games.
After two rounds of fixtures, the Citizens sit firmly in pole position in Group G and unsurprisingly they are big favourites to finish this stage of the tournament in pole position, most bookmakers going just 1/33 that this proves to be the case. City are also firm favourites to lift the trophy on account of their excellent start with many firms going 2/1 that they become European champions for the first time in their history.
North of the border, both Rangers and Celtic have struggled in the early stages of the competition. The Hoops have picked up just a single point from their two tournament openers, a 3-0 thrashing at home to defending champions Real Madrid being followed by a 1-1 draw away to Shakhtar Donetsk. Ange Postecoglou’s side sit third in Group F as things stand and they are outsiders to finish the group stages in pole position at general odds of 40/1.
Things are even worse for Rangers, Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side having failed to get off the starting blocks. The Light Blues edged themselves out of the qualifying play-offs with a 3-2 aggregate win over PSV but they have yet to collect a single point in Group A with heavy back-to-back defeats to Ajax (4-0) and Napoli (0-3). As things stand, the Gers sit firmly at the foot of their group and the likelihood of them proceeding further in the competition seems very slim, most bookmakers going 250/1 that they surprise everyone and somehow make it through to the knockout stages as group winners.
As far as the nationality of the winner is concerned, the general consensus is that an English side will lift the trophy this season and most bookies go around Evens that this will be the case. PSG are second favourites to go all the way in this season’s Champions League and the bookmakers go 5/1 that a French side will go on to lift the trophy while any German side becoming European champions is priced at 4/1. Defending champions Real Madrid are as high as 11/1 to make it two on the bounce this season despite their excellent start to the competition and any Spanish side to win the trophy is priced at around 5/1.
All-in-all, the Champions League tends to throw up a few surprises along the way and much can happen between now and the final on June 10th, 2023 at the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul. Nevertheless, the likelihood is that Europe’s biggest clubs will feature in the latter stages of the tournament and we would be surprised were the likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich weren’t still in contention at the semi-final stages. The scene is certainly set for a thrilling competition and you can enjoy a range of great free bets UK on the 2022/23 Champions League, courtesy of the leading bookmakers.
