EHF Women’s Champions League 1st Round Odds For Top Games

16 handball teams will start the new, 2021-22 EHF Women’s Champions League season this weekend when the group stage begins. We can already see some great games like the Gyori Audi Eto vs Vipers match where the last two champions of the tournament will meet. Let’s see the EHF Women’s Champions League 1st round odds for this and other exciting ties. 

After the Olympics tournament now all handball fans can focus again on their favorite clubs as the new Champions League season starts. Like last year, the participating 16 teams are divided into two groups of eight. The first two teams from each group will automatically reach the quarter-finals, while teams between 3rd and 6th place will get to the playoffs. We have the usual favorites to win the league who should easily qualify from the group stage. Including five-time winners Gyori Audi Eto, defending champions Vipers Kristiansand and Russian top teams, CSKA Moscow and Rostov-Don. You can read more about the top favorites to win the trophy in our previous article. But now let’s see where these teams will start the new season. And what results are expected in the first round?

EHF Women’s Champions League 1st Round Odds Favor Gyor Against Vipers

We can already see a top derby in the first round this Saturday. When the Hungarian champions, Gyori Audi Eto, will host last year’s winners, Vipers Kristiansand. Eto only finished third last season after losing in the semi-final against Brest Bretagne. But they managed to win the tournament in the previous three years and will aim for another title this season. Their old-new coach, Ambros Martin can help to achieve it along with new signings. Nadine Schatzl and Noemi Hafra arrived from a local rival FTC. While Swedish Linn Blohm and Romanian Crina Pintea have also joined the team this summer along with South Korean top player Eun Hee Ryu.

Online sportsbooks in Hungary expect a home win with the odds of 1.25. But of course, it won’t be an easy task against Vipers who also gained some experienced international players. Like Bella Gulden, Nerea Pena and Zsuzsanna Tomori. It will be interesting to see how they can all fit into the team and perform in the first game. The EHF Women’s Champions League 1st round odds also favor the other Hungarian team, FTC, to win in Germany against Borussia Dortmund. The guests won their first national title in 2015 after defeating Gyor. But in the Champions League, the team only got to the last 16 last season. Now Gabor Elek’s team will aim for a better result. A good performance already in the group stage can be crucial for that. Their odds to win the first game are also 1.25. 

Russian-French Ties in Other Top Games

Last season’s runners-up, Brest Bretagne will start their new campaign in the home of Rostov-Don. Online gambling sites in Hungary favor the Russian team to win the game with the odds of 1.25. Rostov lost against Vipers in the quarter-final last season so they failed to reach the last four for the first time since 2017. They have a strong squad though, including French Olympic champions Grace Zaadi and Beatrice Edwige. She arrived from Gyor just like Brazilian  Eduarda Amorim. While Brest lost several key players and their head coach, Laurent Bezeau. Their odds to surprise the home team are 3.50 on bet365. 

A more balanced game is expected in another Russian-French tie between Metz and CSKA Moscow. The French team got to the quarter-final last season where they were knocked out by Brest. While CSKA got to the last four in their debut season, but their ambitions are even higher this time. They signed Slovenian Ana Gros, the top goal scorer of last season’s tournament from Brest. She can definitely help the team to win their first game now, with the odds of 2.35 to do so. But the home team, Metz is still favored for the win with the odds of 1.55 in spite of losing 10 players during the summer.

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