Champions League winner predictions, outright best bets and top scorer betting tips

Read our best bets for the 2025/26 Champions League campaign, including tips for the winner and top scorer prizes

The 2025/26 Champions League season begins on 16 September (AFP via Getty Images)

2025/26 Champions League Best Bets

• Barcelona to win the 2025/26 Champions League - 6/1 Bet365
• All English teams to reach the Round of 16 - 3/1 Ladbrokes
• Kylian Mbappe to be Champions League top scorer - 7/1 William Hill

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The 2025/26 Champions League gets underway this week and looks a tougher puzzle than usual for punters to solve after Paris Saint-Germain solidified their status as European heavyweights last season, adding to an already lengthy list of potential UCL winners.

2025 champions PSG enter the competition among the favourites on betting sites to defend the title they won in a 5-0 demolition of Inter Milan in last May’s final, though they will inevitably face competition from European royalty in the form of 15-time winners Real Madrid, Premier League winners Liverpool and even Spanish champions FC Barcelona.

Within the Premier League clubs, Manchester City look to win a second crown to add to the one they won in 2023, while Chelsea return to the competition looking to make a mark as they did in 2012 and 2021.

Elsewhere, the north London duo of Arsenal and Tottenham look to win their first European Cups after falling agonisingly short at the final hurdle in 2006 and 2019 respectively, while Newcastle United return to the tournament for just the third time in over two decades.

Interestingly, football betting sites have Barca and Liverpool as the early frontrunners in the Champions League odds, with both sharing favouritism among the majority of bookmakers, just ahead of PSG, Arsenal and Real Madrid.

And while the outright market remains one of the most popular for punters to bet on, the intrigue of the Champions League means that online bookmakers continue to offer a range of specials on the competition, from wagers on top scorer and teams to make the final to the club who will top the league table and even whether all the English clubs will make certain knockout rounds.

Champions League winner prediction: Barca to avenge last season’s heartache

Predicting the winners of the Champions League at the beginning of a season is always a minefield, though we have to work with the evidence we’ve been given.

The evidence of last season puts forward three standout candidates for the European Cup: defending champions PSG, Premier League winners Liverpool and Spanish champions (and 2024/25 semi-finalists) Barcelona.

The difficulty of winning back-to-back European Cups makes PSG fairly unappealing at the football odds, although no one will be underestimating them after they eliminated both Liverpool and Arsenal on the way to winning the competition last term.

Liverpool are an interesting proposition, having made extensive investment in a squad that was already one of the best on the continent. With the addition of Alexander Isak, the Reds have the firepower to beat anyone on their day, even if some questions remain over their early season performances in 2025/26.

However, we think one team is a standout as the 2025/26 campaign gets underway, and that is Barcelona. The Blaugrana won a league and cup double last season and really should have taken a place in the Champions league final too, barring a moment of madness that snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against Inter Milan in the semi-finals.

Hansi Flick’s young squad will have learned from that moment and the added experience could prove vital, with a young core including Lamine Yamal, Gavi and Fermin Lopez now blending with the experience of players such as Robert Lewandwoski. In addition, the club have several players playing in their prime years, including mercurial midfielders Pedri and Frenkie de Jong, as well as Ballon d’Or candidate Raphinha.

This is a squad that possesses a variety of weapons – as shown in a recent 6-0 demolition of Valencia to continue their unbeaten start to the season – and when combined with the playing style and tactical nous of Flick, Barca will likely prove a hard team to beat, especially over two legs.

If the Blaugrana can keep key players fit at key times in the season, they should reach the latter stages of the competition with little hassle, and anything can happen from there.

Champions League 2025/26 prediction 1: Barcelona to win the 2025/26 Champions League - 6/1 Bet365

Champions League betting tips: English sextet set for last 16

The Champions League welcomes a record six English teams in 2025/26, with the top four of Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea qualifying alongside Newcastle – who get in due to England’s Uefa co-efficient – and Tottenham, who enter having won the Europa League last season.

While betting sites only give Liverpool, Arsenal and maybe City a chance of vying for the trophy come May, there is real potential for each club to make the last 16. Several of these sides could finish in the top eight to secure automatic qualification to the knockout stages, while others would fancy themselves to win two-legged play-offs against all but the best sides on the continent.

The Premier League’s top three should have enough to finish in the top eight this time round, with Liverpool and Arsenal having done so last season and City looking improved from their 24/25 campaign. Chelsea have some difficult fixtures, but as Aston Villa showed last season, managing the games is the key to automatic qualification here.

This leaves Newcastle and Spurs vying for a place in the round of 16, whether through automatic qualification or a win in the play-offs.

While it is very unlikely that all six English teams occupy the top eight places come the end of the league phase, they should certainly occupy the top 16 places, thereby giving any English club in the play-offs an ‘easier’ tie.

And though that did not prove the case for some teams last season - City going out to Real Madrid is a prime example – the bigger clubs will likely have learned from last year’s campaign, with the expectation that there will be fewer shocks and more grinding out difficult results if need be. This in turn should lead to fewer of the ‘bigger’ clubs languishing in lower positions, such as eventual winners PSG finishing in 15th.

All of the English sides have the ability to take the game to even the best sides on the continent, and this – combined with superior quality to the ‘B’ level of teams such as Benfica or Ajax – means that all six Premier League clubs have a chance of making the round of 16.

It offers an interesting wager and although a slip up from one is always on the cards, this bet offers potentially great value if each side plays to its potential.

Champions League 2025/26 prediction 2: All English teams to reach the Round of 16 - 3/1 Ladbrokes

Champions League top scorer best bets: Mbappe primed for individual honour

Kylian Mbappe may not have won anything of note for the club in his first season with Real Madrid, but the 26-year-old did manage to win the European Golden Shoe with 31 league goals in his debut season in Spain.

The Frenchman seems to have settled well in the Spanish capital as he looks to continue his goalscoring exploits this season while adding some club honours to the mix. The European Cup has so far evaded him in his illustrious career and he’ll be desperate to put right the loss to Arsenal in the quarter-finals last season.

And he has started the season in ominous form, with six goals in six game for club and country including four in four for Los Blancos.

While he only managed seven goals over 14 games in the competition last season, Madrid look to have improved under new manager Xabi Alonso, and they could see some high-scoring league phase games alongside a deep run into the competition.

Mbappe is likely to be at the heart of any success at the Bernabeu this season, and off the back of winning the Golden Shoe in a difficult debut season, we think he offers good value as a wager to top the Champions League scoring charts in 2025/26.

Champions League 2025/26 prediction 3: Kylian Mbappe to be Champions League top scorer - 7/1 William Hill

Champions League betting offers

Online bookmakers are marking the return of the Champions League with a stream of free bet offers, including a 30/1 enhanced odds special from NetBet.

The offer relates to Wednesday’s clash between Bayern Munich and Chelsea in Germany with NetBet boosting the odds on a goal being scored in that fixture to 30/1.

The offer is only available to new customers who sign up using the NetBet promo code UCL30 and deposit a minimum of £10 via debit card, Trustly, Apple Pay or GooglePay.

Next, play a £1 bet on over 0.5 goals in Bayern Munich vs Chelsea at the normal match odds. If there’s at least one goal in the game, NetBet will pay out on the £1 bet at enhanced odds of 30/1.

The pay out will be made in 6 x £5 free bets, made up of 2 x £5 free bets (any sport), 2 x £5 UFC bets and 2 x £5 bet Builders on football.

Responsible gambling

If you’re having a bet, it’s vital to practice responsible gambling.

Betting can be addictive, and it’s important to stay in control of your gambling, whether you’re using online bookies, casino sites, slot sites, bingo sites or any other gambling platform.

Never treat gambling as a way to make money, never bet more than you can afford and when the fun stops, stop.

Gambling sites offer punters tools, like deposit limits, profit and loss trackers and self-exclusion options, to help you stay in control.

Try not to get carried away by free bet offers or casino bonuses, which are widely available on gambling apps.

But if you ever feel like you need help or advice on gambling addiction, don’t hesitate to contact one of the charities or organisations below.

• NHS Help
• GamCare
• Gamblers Anonymous

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