Aaron Ashley
The knockout phase of the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League gets started on Tuesday afternoon, featuring a whole host of huge names in European soccer. By far the standout tie from this round and indeed today’s games is Manchester City vs Real Madrid, the 2 betting favorites at the start of the tournament, but now only 1 of those teams will advance to the Round of 16. In addition, we also have Brest vs PSG, Sporting Lisbon vs Borussia Dortmund and Juventus vs PSV on the slate for Tuesday. Let’s dive into our expert Champions League best bets, while you can also find out our soccer predictions for more Champions League picks as well as our EPL best bets each week.
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Manchester City vs Real Madrid best bet: Over 3.5 goals (+116)
Real Madrid going all-in on Kylian Mbappe last summer was a no-brainer, but it did hamper their ability to strengthen their backline last summer. They were left with a lack of depth in a back 4 packed with potential injury issues. That saw them start last Saturday’s game with Atletico Madrid with a defense of Lucas Vazquez, central midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, 21-year-old Raul Asencio and Fran Garcia.
Manchester City’s forward line should be able to find plenty of joy, but their 5-1 hammering at Arsenal showed what happens when quality teams get at their defense. City’s combination of attacking threat and defensive weaknesses has led to over 3.5 goals landing in 8 of their previous 9 games. Their Champions League campaign has been littered with high-scoring contests, including a 4-2 loss at PSG and a 3-3 tie at home to Feyenoord. Overall, 6 of City’s last 7 matches in Europe have featured 4 goals or more and that looks likely to happen again here as the first of our Champions League best bets.
Read our full Manchester City vs Real Madrid prediction
Sporting Lisbon vs Borussia Dortmund best bet: Both teams to score (-176)
Next on our Champions League best bets is for goals to come at both ends in Sporting Lisbon vs Borussia Dortmund. Sporting have pushed their way back to the top of the Portuguese league standings but they’ve struggled for form in Europe since former head coach Ruben Amorim departed. The Portuguese champions lost their first 3 European games after Amorim left, while they trailed 1-0 at home to Bologna for the majority of their final game and risked elimination before claiming a 1-1 tie. Each of Sporting’s previous 5 European games have seen both teams score so goals are expected when they host Borussia Dortmund.
Both teams have scored in 12 of Dortmund’s last 13 games, while they’ve conceded in all but 1 of their previous 13 matches on the road. The Bundesliga club has at least struck the first goal in all 4 of their Champions League trips this season. Former Stuttgart striker Sehrou Guirassy has scored in 4 of his last 5 games for Dortmund and he has netted in 4 straight Champions League games, scoring 6 times in that run. With Viktor Gyokeres expected to return for Sporting Lisbon, expect to see both teams find the net.
Read our full Sporting Lisbon vs Borussia Dortmund predictions
