Champions and Europa League Tournament Preview

This week in Europe, the two biggest multi-national club competitions of the season get underway in earnest, with the start of the group stages of both the Champions League and the Europa League. Last season saw British success in both tournaments with Liverpool winning the former, beating Tottenham in the final, while Chelsea thumped Arsenal in the final of the Europa League.

Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea along with Premier League Champions Manchester City will be competing in the Champions League this season, with Manchester United, Arsenal and Wolverhampton Wanderers, along with Scottish Old Firm pair Rangers and Celtic, the British representatives in the group stage of the Europa League.

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Let’s now give you a quick preview of the teams competing in each tournament, how the groups look like for each and the teams we feel have the best chance of success, not to mention of course, all the latest betting odds from bet365 Sport.

The Champions League games take place Tuesday and Wednesday in game weeks, with almost all Europa League ties scheduled for Thursday night.

*All Odds shown in the article were correct with bet365 Sport at 12pm on Tuesday 17^th September 2019.

Champions League Preview

Group Stage Draw

Outright Winner Odds

This Week’s Fixtures

Tuesday 17^th September

• Inter Milan v Slavia Prague
• Lyon v Zenit St Petersburg
• Napoli v Liverpool
• Red Bull Salzburg v Genk
• Ajax v Lille
• Benfica v Red Bull Leipzig
• Borussia Dortmund v Barcelona
• Chelsea v Valencia

Wednesday 18^th September

• Club Bruges v Galatasaray
• Olympiakos v Tottenham
• Atletico Madrid v Juventus
• Bayer Leverkusen v Lokomotive Moscow
• Bayern Munich v Red Star Belgrade
• Dinamo Zagreb v Atalanta
• Paris St Germain v Real Madrid
• Shakhtar Donetsk v Man City

Our Tips for Champions League Success

This years tournament should be a cracker and I think there are a number of teams all in with an excellent chance of earning victory in Istanbul in May 2020. I think Manchester City and Liverpool are arguably the best two teams in Europe at the moment and it is impossible to discount either, while the likes of Paris St Germain from France, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid will bring the challenge from Spain.

I think both German sides Bayern Munich and Dortmund could go far but I do feel that both are on a slightly lower level to the English, French and Spanish sides I’ve already mentioned. Others that could be a danger include Ajax, Tottenham, Napoli and if they can get through a tough group, Inter Milan.

However, I feel the team to beat in this year’s tournament is going to be Juventus. They have an incredible squad, packed with talent and they have made no secret of their desire to win this trophy some time soon (they need to given the average age of a number of their squad) and at 11/1 with bet365, I think they are a very good bet if you like a slightly longer odds selection.

Europa League Preview

Group Stage Draw

Outright Winner Odds

This Week’s Fixtures

Thursday 19^th September – 5.55pm Kick Offs

• Apoel Nicosia v F91 Dudelange
• FC Basel v Krasnodar
• CFR Cluj v Lazio
• Dynamo Kyiv v Malmo FF
• Eintracht Frankfurt v Arsenal
• FC Copenhagen v Lugano
• Qarabag v Sevilla
• Getafe v Trabzonspor
• LASK Linz v Rosenborg
• PSV Eindhoven v Sporting Lisbon
• Rennes v Celtic
• Standard Liege v Vitoria Guimares

Thursday 19^th September – 8pm Kick Offs

• Borussia Moenchengladbach v Wolfsberger
• Espanyol v Ferencvaros
• FC Porto v Young Boys
• Gent v St Etienne
• Ludogorets Razgrad v CSKA Moscow
• Man Utd v FC Astana
• Partizan Belgrade v AZ67 Alkmaar
• Rangers v Feyenoord
• AS Roma v Istanbul Basaksehir
• Slovan Bratislava v Besiktas
• Wolfsburg v PFC Oleksandria
• Wolves v Braga

Our Tips for Europa League Success

I wasn’t surprised to see the top six teams in the betting featuring mainly English, Italian and Spanish sides. I am surprised a little that Manchester United are the favourites as I have not been hugely impressed with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team this season and the fact Arsenal reached last year’s final and have improved since then, would make them more of a favourite in my view.

Sevilla have a good record in this competition, but I think Wolves are far too short at 16/1, given that this is their first European campaign since the 1980/81 season. I like the odds-on AS Roma at 20/1, remember they were Champions League semi-finalists the season before last.

However, the best bet for me are last year’s beaten semi-finalists Eintracht Frankfurt who are 66/1. Sure, they have lost a couple of key strikers, but they have replaced them wisely and maintained the majority of the team that lost so narrowly to Chelsea on penalties in the semis last year. At 66/1 that is a huge price and a very good each way bet.