Champions League 2022-23: Who will lift the European Cup? Which player will win the top scorer award?

13/02/2023 | Categories: betting news, News | Published by: Keith

The Champions League returns on Valentine’s Day with the round of 16. There won’t be a lot of love shared between the teams, as the premier club football tournament in Europe returns for the knockout stages.

Sixteen teams are left in the competition with some notable heavyweight clubs, including Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Liverpool, vying for a place in the quarterfinals. The Champions League won’t be contested by the usual names, however. The last 16 will feature German’s Eintracht Frankfurt, Belgium’s Club Brugge, and Italy’s Napoli to give it a little freshness.

The 2022-23 Champions League knockout stages have some excellent ties on tap and more than one underdog could get through to the next phase.

What are the Champions League’s last 16 match-ups?

AC Milan vs Tottenham Hotspur
Paris Saint-Germain vs Bayern Munich
Borussia Dortmund vs Chelsea
Club Brugge vs Benfica
Eintracht Frankfurt vs Napoli
Liverpool vs Real Madrid
Inter Milan vs FC Porto
RB Leipzig vs Manchester City

What are the outright winner odds to win the Champions League 2022-23?

Manchester City go into the knockout phase of the tournament as the bookmakers’ favourite to win the competition. Bet365 has Man City at odds of 7/4 to win the tournament for the first time.

City have been the favourite to win the Champions League before, such as last season, the season before that, and the season before that. Yet, the Sky Blues have routinely failed to lift the European Cup. Could this year be their year?

Last season’s finalists, Liverpool and Real Madrid are both having seasons to forget. The Reds have dealt with injuries since the start of preseason. Yet, it isn’t just injuries causing Jurgen Klopp’s team problems’ Age and desire appear to be causing just as many issues.

Over in Madrid, manager Carlo Ancelotti seems to be facing some of the same complications. Madrid are at odds of 10/1 to win the tournament. Liverpool are also at 10/1 odds.

Here are the latest UCL outright winner odds from Bet365:

Manchester City 7/4
Bayern Munich 13/2
Paris Saint-Germain 8/1
Liverpool 10/1
Real Madrid 10/1
Napoli 10/1
Chelsea 16/1
Tottenham 18/1
Benfica 28/1
Inter Milan 33/1
AC Milan 50/1
Borussia Dortmund 50/1
RB Leipzig 100/1
FC Porto 100/1
Eintracht Frankfurt 100/1
Club Brugge 150/1

Could a long-shot win the Champions League 2022-23?

Looking at the round of 16 match-ups, you can see that some big clubs will exit the tournament at the end of the round. Liverpool will face Real Madrid, Bayern Munich will clash with Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund will battle Chelsea, and AC Milan will tangle with Spurs. The 2022-23 Champions League could be the year of the underdog.

Two teams to keep an eye on in the Champions League are Napoli and Benfica. Napoli are on pace to win their first Serie A title since the days of Diego Maradona. Luciano Spalletti’s team is miles ahead of the competition in Italy and can put their focus on the Champions League. Napoli can get by Eintracht Frankfurt in the round of 16. From there, Napoli could get a favourable draw in the quarterfinals.

Napoli cruised through the group stage defeating Liverpool, Ajax (twice), and Rangers (twice) to finish top of the group. Their only defeat was at Anfield against Liverpool.

Benfica are the frontrunner in Portugal this season. First-year coach Roger Schmidt is doing wonders with the Eagles on all fronts. Benfica topped Group H ahead of Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus. The Eagles have flown under the radar so far in the competition.

Who will be the Champions League 2022-23 top goalscorer?

It should be no surprise to readers that most of the top betting sites believe Erling Haaland will top the goalscoring charts in the Champions League. The Man City striker is at odds of 15/8 to win the Golden Boot. Haaland has five goals in the competition after the group stage.

Despite leading the odds, Haaland does not lead the goalscoring charts currently. Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and Paris Saint-Germain’s Kylian Mbappe lead the competition in goals with seven apiece. Mbappe is 9/4 to win the award, while Salah is at odds of 5/2.

If you plan to make a wager on the top scorer in the Champions League, you need to explore the round of 16 ties. Haaland’s Man City are expected to get by Germany’s RB Leipzig. Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain have difficult fixtures versus Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, respectively.

You will want to wager on a player that will likely play all the way to the final. More matches mean the player will have more opportunities to score goals.

Here are the latest odds on players to finish as UCL’s top goalscorer courtesy of Bet365:

Erling Haaland 15/8
Kylian Mbappe 9/4
Mohamed Salah 5/2
Lionel Messi 25/1
Leroy Sane 33/1
Vinicius Jr 33/1
Sadio Mane 40/1
Olivier Giroud 40/1
Neymar 66/1

Who will reach the final?

One of the markets offered by leading betting sites is the ‘to reach the final market’. Currently, Man City lead the way in odds to make the final at 4/6. Bayern Munich are 3/1 to reach the final game. Of course, the final will have a lot to do with the draw and which teams can avoid each other on the way.

Here are the latest odds on teams to reach the final courtesy of Bet365: