The Champions League fixtures have been confirmed for the new campaign and with a 36-team league format introduced from this year, excitement is building as Europe's top club competition returns with a fresh new look.
However, while the format is different, it is the same clubs dominating the outright betting market with Premier League champions Manchester City, defending champions Real Madrid and other continental heavyweights like Arsenal and Bayern Munich all fancied to go well.
- MAN CITY TO WIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE @9/4
- REAL MADRID TO WIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE @2/1
- ARSENAL TO WIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE @7/1
- BAYERN MUNICH TO WIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE @10/1
- BARCELONA TO WIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE @11/1
- LIVERPOOL TO WIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE @11/1
- PSG TO WIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE @15/1
- INTER MILAN TO WIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE @19/1
- ATLETICO MADRID TO WIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE @24/1
- JUVENTUSA TO WIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE @32/1
- BORUSSIA DORTMUND TO WIN THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE @32/1
ODDS FROM BETFRED SPORTSBOOK AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE
City Could Take Some Stopping
It is no surprise to see City installed as favourites as Pep Guardiola's side look to lift Europe's biggest prize for the second time. The Premier League winners will face Inter Milan - the team they beat in the 2022 final - first, before games against Slovan Bratislava, Sparta Prague and Sporting Lisbon follow.
City then play Feyenoord, Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus before they round off their initial league phase games with a home tie against Club Brugge.
The way City have started the new domestic season with three wins from three suggests they will be the ones everyone else will have to stop again in the Premier League, and they will surely be up for the challenge of trying to win back their continental crown this season too.
Teams finishing in the top eight in the new-look league format will qualify automatically for the round of 16 and that should not be a problem for City, who already have star striker Erling Haaland at full throttle with the fearsome Norway international banging in an incredible seven goals in just three matches this term.
City could take some stopping in the Champions League if they maintain their early season form over the autumn and winter.
Defending Champs Real Always Dangerous
Real are now the record 15-time European champions after their triumph in the most recent Champions League final at Wembley over Borussia Dortmund in June and Carlo Ancelotti's side are bound to be there or thereabouts again in this season's competition.
Los Blancos, who are second favourites in the Champions League outright market, kick off their defence at home against German side VfB Stuttgart. Games then follow against Lille, Dortmund and AC Milan, before Real go to Liverpool and Atalanta and they finish the first stage with a home game against RB Salzburg and a trip to Brest.
Real already had a deep squad the rest of Europe feared before adding to it this summer with the marquee capture of Kylian Mbappe and the France international will be eager to get his hands on a Champions League winner's medal this season after losing in the final in 2020 with former club PSG.
Gunners Eye Euro Glory
Arsenal are in the Champions League mix again after the Gunners finished second behind City in England for the second season in a row. Mikel Arteta has put together a fine side at the Emirates that is both incredibly solid defensively and sharp going forward with a long list of star men that includes William Saliba, Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka.
The Gunners, who have never been crowned European champions, are among the favourites in the Champions League this term and they begin their bid for glory with a trip to Europa League winners Atalanta.
Next up for the Gunners are home games against PSG and Shakhtar Donetsk before an away clash against Inter. Arteta's men also play Sporting, Monaco, Dinamo Zagreb and Girona in the first stage and they should secure a top-eight berth without too many issues.
Bayern Also In The Mix
Bayern Munich last won the Champions League in 2020 and they will once again have ambitions of adding a seventh European crown to their honours list this season.
Former Burnley manager Vincent Kompany was the surprise choice to succeed Thomas Tuchel at the Allianz Arena in the summer and he has plenty of talent at his disposal, including Jamal Musiala, Michael Olise and Harry Kane, at the Bundesliga giants.
Bayern open their Champions League campaign with a home game against Dinamo Zagreb and they take on Aston Villa, Benfica, Barcelona and PSG among their other seven matches in the first stage.
Barca And Liverpool Among Contenders
Barcelona are five-time European champions but they have not been crowned continental kings since 2015. Hansi Flick will hope his side can go far in this year's competition and they have started well domestically, winning their first four La Liga games.
Barca will play Monaco first up this month, and in the first stage also face big games against Dortmund, Bayern and Benfica.
Liverpool are back in the Champions League after one year in the Europa League and Arne Slot's men will fancy their chances of at least making the quarter-finals.
The Reds have a tricky first phase to negotiate, though, as the six-time winners host Real and German champions Bayer Leverkusen at Anfield, while they must also travel to AC Milan, RB Leipzig and PSV Eindhoven among their first-phase fixtures.
Will There Be A Surprise Winner?
There are plenty of other top teams further down the outright betting market who could surprise some of the traditional European heavyweights this season, with the likes of PSG, Inter, Juventus, Dortmund and Atletico Madrid all well capable of going far in the competition.
Some of the outsiders in the outright betting for the Champions League include debutants Villa, Girona and Brest, while Celtic, Feyenoord, Young Boys and Slovan Bratislava are among the other clubs not being given much of a chance of making an impact.
