The Champions League restarts tonight, with Arsenal and Manchester City well-positioned to win Old Big Ears
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Manchester City have been hotly tipped to retain their UEFA Champions League crown this season.
Pep Guardiola's side are safely through to the last 16 stage and will face Danish outfit FC Copenhagen across two legs, bidding to seek passage to their quarter-finals. Winning six out of six in the group stage, the Cityzens completed a stunning Treble success in 2023 and are once again on the march for further silverware.
According to SuperComputer site OCB Scores, City are given a 32.5 per cent chance of victory at Wembley Stadium in this season's showpiece event. After simulating the competition 1,000 times, the reigning Premier League title holders won a whopping 325 times.
Manchester City have a huge chance to retain the Premier League (Image credit: Getty Images)
Real Madrid won the tournament on 179 occasions, giving them a percentage chance of 17.9 per cent and face RB Leipzig in the next round of the competition. Produced by OCB Scores, the SuperComputer uses real-life information such as league positions and statistics, as well as historical data and prestige in European competitions.
City stars Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne have just returned from respect injury lay-offs and will provide a boost for the side moving forward. Fellow English side Arsenal were given a 7.6 per cent of winning Europe's elite competition in full, having last reached the final in 2006, only to lose to Barcelona in Paris.
Arsenal are in the running for the Champions League, too (Image credit: Chloe Knott - Danehouse/Getty Images)
The Gunners are set to face Portuguese side Porto over two legs and are still well in the Premier League title race this season too.
"Overall, I think, very positive," manager Mikel Arteta said on his side's endeavours in Europe so far. "Having not been in the competition for six or seven years and having a team that hasn't got that much experience, I think we've competed really well."
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Likeliness of clubs progressing to rounds of the Champions League
Bio: Matthew is a freelance journalist and has currently racked up bylines for Manchester United, Manchester Evening News, GOAL and SPORTbible to name a few. A long-term sufferer of Scunthorpe United, he currently resides in the north-west after escaping the smog of North Lincolnshire.
