Champions League First Round Odds for the Most Exciting Games

Next week fans can finally see the start of the new Champions League season with the first group stage games. With a few real derbies and other interesting ties no one should be bored on Tuesday and Wednesday night. We checked the favorites of some of the biggest games according to the Champions League first round odds. Let’s see them now!

32 teams will start the Champions League group stage after the qualifying and playoff rounds. We can find several familiar faces from the biggest Spanish, English and Italian clubs to the winners of last year’s Champions and Europa League, Bayern Munich and Sevilla. But there are some unusual names as well. Like Russian side Krasnodar and Danish side Midtjylland who qualified to the group stage for the first time. The first round will take place next Tuesday and Wednesday so it’s time to check the biggest games and the odds for them.

Champions League first round odds favor Chelsea against Europa League winners

On Tuesday night Chelsea will host Spanish top team Sevilla, who won last year’s Europa League in August. Online sportsbooks in England predict a home win with the odds of 2.00 while the guest’s victory has the odds of 3.60. This will be the first time the two teams meet in a  European league, so it will be interesting to see which side can prepare for it better. Frank Lampard’s club signed several new players in the summer, but the team might need a little more time to get used to each other. Chelsea are currently in 7th place in the Premier League but they won their last game against Crystal Palace confidently.

While their rival, Sevilla are in a similar position, 6th in La Liga after 3 rounds. But they’ve already played against FC Barcelona and draw 1-1 in Camp Nou which is a great result. Now they have to face another tough game in London but with players such as Luuk de Jong, Lucas Ocampos and Ivan Rakitic, they have every chance to take point(s) away. Lopetegui’s side also has good experiences against English teams, as they knocked out both Wolferhampton and Manchester United in last season’s Europa League. While they also won against the Red Devils in the last 16 in the 2018 Champions League.

Similar odds in the top game at Group F

Italian side Lazio will host German top side Borussia Dortmund in another exciting game on Tuesday. The guests are the favorites here according to the Champions League first round odds. We have to agree that Lucien Favre has a great team with super talents as Erling Haaland, Giovanni Reyna and Jadon Sancho. But Lazio can’t complain about its squad either as it includes Serie A’s top goalscorer Ciro Immobile. The team finally qualified for the group stage after their last appearance in 2008. And under the management of Philippo Inzaghi they could go even further. Their odds to start with a win is 3.25 on bet365. 

On the same night Manchester United will visit the home of PSG with less chance for a victory. Online gambling sites in the UK offer the odds of 6.00 for their win, while the French champion’s odds are only 1.53. The reasons for that are obvious, as PSG have a superb last season. Even though they started the new season with two losses in Ligue 1, they seem to find their form now with four consecutive wins. While Ole Gunnar Solksjaer’s side is not convincing at all. They are only in 16th place in the Premier League after 1 win and 2 losses. Their last game against Tottenham  ended with a humiliating 6-1 defeat. Now the team will face another tough task to win against the French champion.

Wednesday’s top games

On Wednesday night one of the most awaited games is the tie between Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid. Certainly the defending champions are the favorites with the odds of 1.57 but no one should write off Simeone’s team either.  The Germans were invincible last season and got their sixth Champions League trophy after defeating PSG in the final. They’ve already won their first titles of the new season. The UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla and  the German Supercup against Borussia Dortmund. 

Surprisingly Bayern also suffered a defeat against Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga last month. They should still get the win at home against the Spanish side, which is only in 12th place in La Liga after 3 rounds. But Atletico can always cause surprise in European leagues like they did last season. Then they knocked out previous season’s champions, Liverpool in the last 16. The Reds who will visit Ajax on Wednesday and go for all three points there. Knopp’s side suffered a shocking 7-2 defeat against Aston Villa so needs to make up for that. Of course, only after winning the Merseyside derby against Everton.

An exciting derby between two returners

The most exciting game might be the Olympiacos vs Marseille match where both teams will fight for the top 2 finish in the group. The Greek side took part last in the group stage in the 2013-14 season when they reached the last 16. This time they had to play in the play-off round, where they won 2-0 on aggregate against Omonia Nicosia. Their opponent, Olympique Marseille didn’t have a great start in Ligue 1 with only 2 wins out of 6 games. But thanks to their second-place finish last season, Marseille qualified to the group stage. Now they have the odds of 3.10 to surprise Olympiacos, whose odds for a win is 2.30.

You can discover more about Bet365 Sportsbook here.