The 2024/25 Champions League gets underway this week with the first matchweek of the new ‘League Phase’ serving up 18 ties across Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Taking on Champions League debutants of varying stripes looks a plausible route to profit for the opening slate of fixtures, while the reigning Europa League winners are also opposed.
Champions League best bets
Young Boys double chance vs Aston Villa (draw or win) @ 13/10
Paris Saint-Germain (-1) to beat Girona @ 2/5
Arsenal to win to nil vs Atalanta @ 13/5
Bet on the latest Champions League odds at Betzone
Villans too short for first ‘UCL’ victory since 1982 final
Aston Villa have been priced up at just 8/13 to win their first match in Europe’s premier club competition since they beat Bayern Munich 1-0 in the 1982 final in Rotterdam.
Hosts Young Boys are far from the most formidable opponents Unai Emery’s men will face in this season’s UCL, but they may not need to be given Villa were less than irresistible on the road at a lower level in the Europa Conference League last term.
Beaten by Legia Warsaw, Lille and Olympiakos, they also drew away to Zrinksi Mostar in the groups. Emery will field a far stronger XI than he did in that Croatian damp squib, but the Swiss side still look far too big in the double chance betting at 13/10.
Patrick Rahmen’s outfit saw off Galatasaray 4-2 on aggregate in the Playoff round of qualifying, beating the Turkish champions – who broke the Super Lig record for most wins in a campaign last term – home and away.
Tip: Young Boys double chance vs Aston Villa (draw or win) @ 13/10
PSG can claim comfortable win over stripped-bare Spaniards
Paris Saint-Germain have made light of losing Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid this summer, bagging 16 goals in the process of winning their first four Ligue 1 games.
While PSG have lost one superstar, opponents Girona have been mercilessly stripped of heaps of the talent that carried them to a shock first ever Champions League qualification in 2023/24.
Last season’s top scorer Artem Dovbyk has gone to Roma, Manchester City bought dangerous wideman Savinho, while midfield playmaker Aleix Garcia has joined Bayer Leverkusen.
Manager Michel will also be without departed loanees Eric Garcia, Yan Couto and Pablo Torro all of whom played big roles in last season’s success.
Stepping up to swim with the big fish in such circumstances is highly undesirable and with PSG in good form domestically they can win by at least two goals to land odds of 2/5 on the (-1) handicap.
Tip: Paris Saint-Germain (-1) to beat Girona @ 2/5
Maturing Gunners highlight progress with win in Bergamo
Arsenal have been maturing in stages under Mikel Arteta and their away showings so far this season suggest they may have taken another developmental leap.
Last term they were poor on the road in the Champions League, losing three of their five away ties and winning just once. They also dropped vital points as visitors in the Premier League.
This term the Gunners have already chiseled out away wins against Aston Villa and Tottenham, fixtures that cost them five points and by extension the EPL title in 2023/24.
Arteta’s men are a decent price to beat Atalanta in Bergamo at 17/20, but given clean sheets underpinned the Villa and Spurs raids the 13/5 about the win to nil is preferred.
The hosts have lost to nil against both elite sides they’ve played this season (2-0 to Real Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup and 4-0 to Inter in Serie A).
