UCL Round of 16 – Tips and Previews
It’s been three and a half months since the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, but the highly anticipated knockout rounds have finally arrived.
Just 16 teams remain in the pursuit of the silverware. Despite their current elite club form, there is no Barcelona, clearing the path for Manchester City ($3), Bayern Munich ($6.50) and Paris Saint-Germain ($8) as the three favourites.
The first leg of four matches takes place over the next two days, and Bet Nation has looked at each in search of the best bets.
AC Milan vs. Tottenham Hotspur
7am Wednesday
It all kicks off with AC Milan taking on Tottenham at San Siro. Despite being $15 to win the entire competition compared to AC Milan’s $34, the Hotspurs are $2.63 to the home side’s $2.25 in this match-up. And that’s precisely why – the home crowd advantage.
Tottenham is well-known for their ability to absorb pressure and look for opportunities to hurt opponents on the counter-attack. Harry Kane is the key to the Hotspurs’ success up forward, with his 17 EPL goals ranking second.
AC Milan may well have wanted another month’s break to try and find some form. They’ve lost four consecutive matches by a combined 13-2, including a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Lazio. Their talent is high – Rafael Leao and Olivier Giroud – but they’re just not in a winning frame of mind.
Paris Saint-Germain vs. Bayern Munich
7am, Wednesday
Clearly, the match-up not to be missed, Paris Saint-Germain head into their first leg against Bayern Munich as $2.38 outsiders. This is likely on the back of injury sidelining Kylian Mbappé for the time being, but they still boast a forward half with World Cup champion Lionel Messi and Neymar.
PSG sit atop Ligue 1 with 17 wins from their 23 games, but they have lost two of their past five after going down to Monaco 3-1 on Sunday. We know they’ve got the star power, but they need to bring it all together simultaneously.
On the other hand, the 10-time defending Bundesliga champions enter this match as $2.30 favourites following an impressive run of recent form. Bayern responded to a slow start to their year with dominant wins over Mainz and Wolfsburg.
Club Brugge vs. Benfica
7am, Thursday
The market has this match-up as the most one-sided affair, with Benfica trading at $1.73 to Club Brugge’s $3.80.
Portugal’s best team, Benfica, proved they could match it with the big boys in the group stages, tying with PSG twice and defeating Juventus twice. They’re a ball-dominant team under Roger Schmidt and boast a four-game winning streak on the back of some dominant performances from Goncalo Ramos.
Club Brugge are the wild outsiders of this year’s Champions League at $201 to win it all. What does this mean for their knockout clash? Have a bit of fun. They have a young and exciting team who will enjoy the experience, but let’s be honest, they’re the fourth-best team in Belgium.
Borussia Dortmund vs. Chelsea
7am, Thursday
The final game on Wednesday pits Borussia Dortmund ($2.20) against Chelsea ($2.63). BVB have been on a tear this year with seven straight victories and a goal difference of 22-7. They now sit just three points below Bayern on the Bundesliga table. Karim Adeyemi and Gio Reyna have excited as much as any players.
They’ll be up against Chelsea, a team that has only won once in 2023. While they’ve drawn with West Ham, Fulham and Liverpool recently, there’s no doubt Chelsea isn’t in the form required to make a mark in the Champions League. It’s a new-look team with a lot of question marks.
