This week sees the final week of Champions League action in the group stages and there are still many places to be secured. That should give us some fantastic games to watch, thanks to the various scenarios that still need to be decided.
The only English club to have guaranteed their position in the next round as group winners is Manchester City, but all the other four clubs can join them as group winners if they get the result they need. Chelsea and Tottenham will qualify regardless but may finish in second place, while Liverpool and Manchester United are yet to guarantee qualification, but could get top spot with a victory. This is an exciting time for English clubs and it looks likely that we will finish the Champions League group stages with five English clubs all qualifying, and all of them qualifying as group winners.
Looking at the games elsewhere, Basel travel to Benfica needing a win to qualify for the next round and that would be a huge achievement for them. In group B the top two PSG and Bayern Munich meet each other in Germany, although both have secured their places in the next round so may opt to rest some players for this game.
Barcelona needs a point to secure top spot in Group D, while Juventus in behind them need a win just to make sure of qualification. Sporting Lisbon would have to win away at Barcelona to put qualification in doubt for Juventus, but you never know what will happen on the final day of Champions League qualifying.
Group E has many questions to answer and any one of three teams could finish top, and all three could still qualify. Liverpool are in pole position for both, and it would be a huge surprise if they missed out on qualification. While Besiktas have already won Group G, the battle for second place is evenly poised. Porto and Leipzig are tied on seven points right now, and both head into the final game with a home game that they should win. The final two games take place on Wednesday and should prove to be thrilling viewing as they both aim to qualify for the next round.
Our Predictions
Tuesday
Barcelona v Sporting Lisbon – Barcelona win
Bayern Munich v PSG – Bayern Munich win
Benfica v Basel – Basel win
Celtic v Anderlecht – draw
Chelsea v Atletico Madrid – Chelsea win
Manchester United v CSKA Moscow – Manchester United win
Olympiakos v Juventus – Juventus win
Roma v FK Qarabag – Roma win
Wednesday
Porto v Monaco – Porto win
Feyenoord v Napoli – Napoli win
Liverpool v Spartak Moscow – Liverpool win
Maribor v Sevilla – Sevilla win
Leipzig v Besiktas – Leipzig win
Real Madrid v Borussia Dortmund – Real Madrid win
Shakhtar Donetsk v Manchester City – draw
Tottenham v Apoel Nicosia – Tottenham win
What Games are on TV?
As ever, you can watch every single Champions League game thanks to the coverage by BT Sport. Below you will find the listings for each of the games featuring English clubs this week.
Chelsea v Atletico Madrid – Tuesday 7:45 pm, BT Sport 3
Chelsea take on Atletico Madrid on Tuesday and they have already qualified for the next round. However, to guarantee top spot in the group they need to win this game, otherwise, Roma may have a chance to leapfrog them and they are only facing minnows Qarabag, so look very likely to win comfortably. Atletico Madrid need to win to keep their hopes of qualification alive, so that should give us a very good game at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night.
Manchester United v CSKA Moscow – Tuesday 7:45 pm, BT Sport 2
Manchester United have not yet guaranteed qualification to the next round, or top spot but can do both with a victory at home to Moscow on Tuesday. The Russians still have a chance to qualify so will come looking for the win, and that should give us an entertaining end to end game to look forward to. Manchester United should be too strong though, and anything other than a win and qualification for the home team would be a huge surprise.
Liverpool v Spartak Moscow – Wednesday 7:45 pm, BT Sport 2
Despite only winning two games out of a possible five, Liverpool are currently top of their qualification group and a win in this game would guarantee both qualification and top spot in the group. That is something they should do comfortably against Spartak Moscow, who are much better at home than away from home, and you can expect to see Liverpool win this one comfortably.
Shakhtar Donetsk v Manchester City – Wednesday 7:45 pm, BT Sport ESPN
Manchester City have a perfect record in the Champions League so far, with five victories from five games. They would love to make that six here, but they don’t have anything to play for and because of that, I expect to see them rest a few players, with a busy period upcoming. Shakhtar need something from the game to ensure they qualify for the next round, and they can get that here.
Manchester City will not want to lose, but with a few players having a rest and Shakhtar needing it, I think this game will end in a draw.
Tottenham v Apoel Nicosia – Wednesday 7:45 pm, BT Sport 3
Tottenham have already qualified for the next round of the Champions League, and need just a point from this game to ensure they go through as group winners. That would give them the chance to avoid some of the bigger clubs in the next round, something they would like to do. Nicosia are the weakest team in the group and Tottenham should not only get a point here, they should win the game comfortably and claim top spot in style.
Betting Odds
All odds correct at the time of writing.
There looks to be many betting opportunities this week, and something to suit everyone from those who like to bet accumulators, to those who bet English teams and those who like to play singles on big priced teams.
The accumulator backers out there will be looking at a number of favourites across the two days and there are sure to be many accumulators placed on the games. Roma (1/10), Manchester United (4/9) Juventus (1/4) and Barcelona (4/9) are sure to be the most popular selections on Tuesday night and those three will be in many accumulators for Tuesday’s games. Should they win, then I am sure there will be many happy punters.
Onto Wednesday’s games and there are many teams that people will be looking at for their accumulator, we have a lot of heavy favourites on Wednesday. Porto (1/3), Napoli (3/10), Liverpool (2/9), Sevilla (1/5), Leipzig (1/3), Real Madrid (1/2), Tottenham (2/9) will all be popular with accumulator backers and should they win then it will be a profitable night for punters.
Those looking for English clubs to back will notice Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham are heavy favourites and that could be a popular treble over the two days. Elsewhere, Chelsea are 11/10 for their home game against Atletico Madrid and Manchester City are a huge 12/5 for their trip to Shakhtar Donetsk, although they do not have anything to play for as they have already qualified.
Those looking for value may look towards Basel who are 6/4 away at Benfica and have to win to guarantee themselves a spot in the next round. Benfica have lost every game so far and have really struggled to get going in the competition.
Betting Offers
The headline offer for the midweek Champions League games is from Coral and they are offering a huge price on something that looks sure to happen in the game between Chelsea and Atletico Madrid. They are offering the price of 25/1 for there to be a goal in the game, this can be scored by anyone, as long as there is a goal somewhere in the game. This looks sure to happen with two attacking teams taking each other on and represents a great bet for those who want to take advantage when they sign up for a new account with Coral.
If you fancy Liverpool to win their game against Spartak Moscow this week then make sure you take a look at the offer that Ladbrokes have put together. Those who open a new account with Ladbrokes can take advantage of an enhanced price on Liverpool to win the game. They are offering 25/1 on them to win. This is a huge price, much bigger than anywhere else and it is one that you really need to take advantage of if you think Liverpool are going to win.
If you are looking to place an accumulator this week, make sure you take advantage of the acca bonus that Bet365 run. They offer a bonus on your winnings, starting at 5{70a57e58ab0ecf5f688888cecd84b03ab78e4ba3d6ba708ca8474e09128386d9} for a treble and going up as you bet on more selections. There is the chance to win a huge bonus and this week looks to be a good week for accumulator backers, with many favourites fancied to win.