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Champions League Football Betting

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FOOTBALL BETTING

With the resurgence of British clubs in European football, a bet on the Champions’ league winner has once again become popular with punters. Online bookmakers such as 888sport, bet365, Blue Square and Boylesports reported massive amounts of betting action in the final stages of the 2007-08 competition and this is again likely to be the case for the 2008-09 event. Online layers offer a wide range of Champions’ league betting odds. The following seeks to provide an overview of the types of Champions league football betting markets available.

Bet on the Champions’ League Winner

The outright market is likely to be dominated by British clubs, predominantly reigning champions Manchester United and runners-up Chelsea, though Arsenal and Liverpool are likely to be prominent in the betting. The top sides from Spain and Italy, as in the paragraph below, will also be to the forefront of the Champions’ league betting odds.

Winning Nation

Given the English dominance of the Champions’ League last season, England is the likely favourite in the Champions’ league betting odds market for the winning nation. Spain is usually strongly represented by the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona and seems certain to be second favourites in this market. Italy usually hold a strong hand and following the recent controversies in Italian football are likely to be third best, represented by
Juventus, Roma and perhaps Inter. Germany’s Bayern Munich seem to be omnipresent in the Champions’ League, while France is likely to be represented by Lyon.

Top Goalscorer

Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o is favourite for the Champions League “golden boot” with skybet, but his future at Barcelona seems uncertain. Current team-mate Lionel Messi is also well-fancied to be top scorer. Cristiano Ronaldo will be amongst the favourites, regardless of whether he remains at Old Trafford or his transfer to Real Madrid actually goes through. Real Madrid’s Ruud Van Nistelrooy has already been Champions’ League top scorer three times and must be well fancied to do so again. Despite suspicions that he may not be quite the player he was, Barcelona’s Thierry Henry must have every chance. Liverpool’s Fernando Torres was extraordinary in the goalscoring department last season and must surely go close, assuming Liverpool progress far enough in the tournament.

Along with the above markets, which obviously apply to the whole tournament, online layers such as Paddy Power, Ladbrokes, Victor Chandler and William Hill offer a range of markets on individual Champions’ League matches.

Champions’ League Match Betting

Outright Match Betting
For the qualifying and group stages of the competition, prices are offered for home win, away win and draw. Once the competition reaches the knockout stages, prices are available “to reach the next round.” As all Champions’ League matches are televised live, the majority of online layers also offer “in-running” betting, updated as the match progresses.

45-Minute Result
This bet requires the correct prediction of the state of play at half-time. Prices are usually broadly comparable with the 90-minute betting at the outset, and are also updated “in-running.”

Correct Score
In order to win this bet, the correct score after 90 minutes must be correctly predicted. Extra time does not count.

First / Last Goalscorer
For this bet to be successful, the punter needs to correctly nominate the first or last goalscorer in the game. Several online bookmakers have recently taken to offering each-way betting on the first 3 scorers in a particular game. N.B. Own goals do not count, and there is also a price for “no goalscorer”, so in the event of a goalless draw, all first / last goalscorer bets are lost. However, from time to time, some bookmakers have special offers or free bets if a match ends 0-0.

Half-time / Full-time result
A punter must correctly predict the state of the game at both half-time and full-time to collect on this bet. The available options are: home / home, home / draw, home / away, draw / home, draw / draw, draw / away, away / draw, away / home and away / away, i.e. 9 possibilities. The home / away and away / home options can be particularly lucrative, as either team winning from behind is usually priced at 25/1 or 33/1.

All odds correct at time of writing. Please click here for the latest odds