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The Champions League is back and this time it includes more Premier League teams than ever. A record six English top-flight sides will compete in the 2025/26 competition including three London clubs - Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham.
The Gunners made it all the way to the semi-finals last season before being knocked out by eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain. They will kick off their new campaign with an away trip to Bilbao where they will face Athletic Club on Tuesday night.
Despite facing tricky opponents on the road, bookmakers Bet365 have Arsenal as odds-on favourites to win the match at a price of 19/20. A draw is 23/10, with a home win for the Basque club priced at 29/10.
Looking at the bigger picture, Arsenal are considered one of the favourites to claim the Champions League trophy at 7/1. Only current holders PSG and joint-favourites Liverpool and FC Barcelona are shorter odds.
Off the back of their Club World Cup heroics, Chelsea are priced at 12/1 to win the Champions League this season. They open their league phase schedule with a tricky encounter away to Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich. Bet365 is offering 7/10 for a home win, with the Blues priced at 10/3 for a famous away victory. A draw is 16/5.
Tottenham were the sixth and final Premier League team to qualify for the competition after they won the Europa League with a 1-0 victory against Manchester United. Spurs are 25/1 currently to win the competition outight, the joint-ninth highest-placed team.
Thomas Frank will begin his European adventure with the north London club on Tuesday night, when they play host to Spanish outfit Villareal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. A home win is priced at 5/6 with the unfancied visitors offered 31/10 for an away win. A draw is 3/1.
Here's what our club reporters think of the new Champions League season for their respective teams.
The view from our Arsenal reporter, Tom Canton
Opening the campaign in Mikel Arteta’s home region of Spain in the Basque country might be a delight for the Arsenal manager, but there are much simpler pot-four opponents the Gunners could have drawn than Athletic Club.
That being said, there will be strong expectations for the Gunners to not only comfortably win this clash but also glide through the league phase of the competition. While there are certainly tough tests in the form of Bayern Munich and Inter Milan to come, the semi-finalists of last season are simply a different animal this season.
The eight new signings of the summer, including some truly top-level players, have equipped Arteta with a squad that even while already suffering injury problems, are ripping the likes of Leeds United and Nottingham Forest apart.
At the time, they can be dogged when they need to and claimed three points at Manchester United and could have easily done the same in Liverpool, were it not for a wonderful Dominik Szoboszlai free-kick. The bottom line is this team fears no one and has a point to prove with the Champions League, another route to glory.
With Viktor Gyokeres already up and running with three goals in four games, their new spearhead has ripped off the new packaging and is ready to take the Gunners to glory. While other new signings like Eberechi Eze, Martin Zubimendi and Noni Madueke also look like level-raisers that Arteta will aim to use to end the long wait for silverware.
The view of our Chelsea writer, Jake Stokes
Chelsea could be a dark horse in the Champions League this season. Towards the end of last term, the Blues enjoyed an excellent vein of form, finishing in the top four of the Premier League, winning the Conference League and lifting the Club World Cup.
The west London outfit were expected to qualify for Europe's top-flight competition. They were expected to complete the set in Wrocław. But nobody expected them to demolish, dismantle and destroy THE Paris Saint-Germain with such ease, yet they did.
Chelsea steamrolled the French giants at the MetLife Stadium in the United States, and it couldn't have been done without Enzo Maresca. The Italian, who was so heavily scrutinised when he replaced Mauricio Pochettino at Stamford Bridge, proved he could throw his weight around at the highest level.
Simone Inzaghi, Mikel Arteta, Unai Emery, Arne Slot - they all failed to manoeuvre past Luis Enrique when the lights shone brightest. But not Maresca.
The problem that the Chelsea boss faces now is that he's without Levi Colwill – a real pillar of that Club World Cup-winning starting lineup. The west London outfit, of course, have match-winners in the squad, but they don't have a centre-half partnership that's comparable to those that are favourites to win the Champions League.
If the likes of Trevoh Chalobah, Tosin Adarabioyo, Wesley Fofana, Benoit Badiashille and Josh Acheampong can find another gear or two, then Chelsea could surprise a few people.
The view of our Tottenham reporter, Alasdair Gold
Tottenham will be the unknown prospect in this season's Champions League, mostly because it's new head coach Thomas Frank's first experience of the competition.
How he will deal with the fixture pile-up and whether his squad is strong enough to handle the extra demands after Spurs' struggles last season will decide just how far they can go in a competition they reached the final of only six years ago.
This is a very different Tottenham team now, with every player who started that defeat to Liverpool in 2019 now gone on to pastures new.
However, this is a Spurs team that knows what it takes to lift a trophy, coming into the competition as Europa League winners. That cannot be overestimated.
They will be looking to get off to a strong start but will find a tough first opponent in Villarreal, with a number of former players from both sides of the north London divide and one in Manor Solomon who is on loan from Spurs.
Tottenham could reach the quarter-finals but that depends on how the squad handles the schedule to come.
Win tickets to a Champions League match
Bet365 are giving fans the opportunity to win two tickets to a Champions League match throughout the tournament, as part of their big ticket giveaway.
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- This Promotion is free to enter. No purchase is required.
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- To enter a prize draw, create or login to your bet365 account, go to our giveaway page and select the match you would like to win by clicking “Enter” by the deadlines indicated.
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- Entry into a match giveaway must be made by no later than 11.59pm (UK time) on the closing date specified for that fixture.
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- You may only enter the giveaway for one match per week of the UCL competition. A maximum of four prizes can be won per person over the lifetime of this Promotion.
- In each match giveaway, excluding Spanish team home games, 5 winners will each win 2x match tickets to the selected UEFA Champions League men’s football match. For Spanish team home games, 1 winner will win 2x match tickets to the selected UEFA Champions League men's football match. Tickets may only be used by the selected winner and a guest of their choice (aged 18+). Tickets may not be transferred, sold or exchanged.
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