Champions League 2022/23 Tips: Winner & Top Scorer bets from the Betfair editors

Mike Norman

Milan can stun Chelsea and top group

Group E looks to be between Chelsea (1/3) and AC Milan (10/3) and at those prices I definitely want to be with the Italian outfit.

Stefano Pioli's men failed to advance past the group stage last term, but pitched against Liverpool, Atletico Madrid and Porto they had an extremely tough task. Their passage to the knock-out phase this season looks relatively straightforward with RB Salzburg and Dynamo Zagreb the other teams to join Chelsea in Group E.

Milan lost just one league game during the second half of last season (W13 D5) on their way to their 19th Serie A title, and first since 2010-11. They finished their campaign with a 16-match unbeaten run in which they kept 11 clean sheets, beating arch rivals Inter to the trophy by two points. They've also started this season with an unbeaten four-game run.

Right now they look to be in better nick than Chelsea - who have already lost twice in the Premier League in games where they started heavy favourites - and if the group boils down to the head-to-head between the two sides I'd rather be on Milan at 10/3 than the Blues at 1/3.

New Bayern star to carry on scoring

It goes without saying that you want a player representing a team going deep in the tournament to have any chance of landing a top goalscorer bet, so in Bayern Munich we definitely tick that box.

Admittedly, the German champions have a tough group that includes Barcelona and Inter Milan, but they also have one of the tournament whipping boys in Viktoria Plzen, and my selection Sadio Mane will hopefully fill his boots in those games alone.

The 30-year-old made a rather surprising move from Liverpool to Bayern, but he's wasted no time in settling in at his new club, scoring four goals in his opening five games, and playing for a team that scores regularly both domestically and in Europe, I can only see Mane's confidence in front of goal increasing the more he gets used to his new surroundings. Hopefully his Champions League goals tally will increase too.

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Max Liu

Napoli can top exciting group

Napoli return to the Champions League after securing a third place finish in Serie A last term under boss Luciano Spalletti. They have lost well-established names in the summer - Kalidou Koulibaly, Lorenzo Insigne and Dries Mertens - but Spalletti now has a young and energetic team at his disposal that could be a surprise package in Group A against Liverpool, Ajax and Rangers.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the 21-year-old winger, has made a strong start at Napoli, scoring three goals in his first four Serie A matches, while Kim Min-jae has slotted in at centre-back.

Spalletti's faith in his squad, and commitment to tactical coherence, was underlined when Napoli turned down the chance to sign Cristiano Ronaldo this summer.

Napoli kick off the campaign at home to Liverpool in front of what will be a raucous crowd at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium. The Italian club won their home game against Liverpool in both 2018-19 (1-0) and 2019-20 (2-0) when they met in the group stage and they can trouble the Reds again.

Main man Mbappe can bag Golden Boot

Paris Saint-Germain crashed out to Real Madrid in the last 16 last season, surrendering the tie after winning the opening leg at home and opening the scoring in the Spanish capital. Kylian Mbappe lit up that night in Spain and he has the growing aura of a striker who means business in this competition. For all that PSG boast Neymar and Lionel Messi, Mbappe is now the undisputed main man at the club.

The top goalscorer market has the potential to be a thrilling shootout between Man City goal-monster Erling Haaland and Mbappe. I'm backing the Frenchman because, at 9/1, I think the price is generous. Haaland will have the advantage of not playing at the winter World Cup but, if France, go deep in Qatar then Mbappe, who is still only 23, could carry the momentum into PSG's Champions League tilt in the second-half of the season. Allez Kylian!

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Nathan Joyes

Citizens can win Holy Grail

The Champions League somehow remains the only trophy Pep Guardiola hasn't won since taking over Manchester City and it's becoming quite the ongoing joke for those who don't support the Citizens. Last year's capitulation against Real Madrid had to be witnessed in order for it to be true, but I can't see City throwing away a situation like that again.

Erling Haaland has joined the ranks and they've looked a different beast this season in front of goal, largely down to the Norwegian's presence in the box and I truly believe this is their best chance of European glory.

Liverpool seem to be faltering without Sadio Mane, Real Madrid's luck will run out soon enough with their ageing squad and the likes of Barcelona have a lot to prove this season. As City get stronger, other European giants are being left behind and this is why Guardiola's side are favourites to prevail at long last.

Haaland a no-brainer bet to be top scorer

As I've already alluded to, the Norwegian powerhouse appears to be the final missing piece Man City have lacked since Sergio Aguero's departure. The media were excited and made a big deal of the potential link up play between Kevin De Bruyne and Haaland but City are far more than that.

With Ilkay Gundogan, Riyad Mahrez, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden providers for Haaland, it's inevitable he'll continue to score at an alarming rate. With City expected to go far, or even win it, this seems to be the logical bet to place.

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Alex Boyes

PSG to finally come good

The two big narratives surrounding the Champions League each season are Man City and PSG looking to lift that elusive crown. City at 9/4 are the strong favourites as we approach the opening night of group stage action, and it's hard to think of anything other than Erling Haaland as the reason why.

PSG, on the other hand, continue to crash out at various stages of the competition, despite boasting the wealth of Mbappe, Neymar and Messi. Much has been discussed whether the star trio become more of a hindrance against the best sides in Europe when looking to defend as an outfit, but in Christophe Galtier, they've summoned a manager I believe will get it right.

If you don't believe me, have a look how the trio combined for PSG's opening goal v Toulouse last week; they have the capability to beat any side in the competition, simple as that.

Juventus are a stern test in the group stages, but both sides will progress to the knockout round (apologies to Benfica and Maccabi Haifa), but at 7.26/1 on the Exchange there is some serious value in the Parisians.

I'm not sure their price would be quite so high if City's wasn't so low - a reminder they beat the English side 2-0 at home in last season's group stages - and they did reach the final of the competition just two years ago, before a 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich during an interrupted COVID campaign.

PSG's advantage is usually they have the Ligue 1 title wrapped up by the latter stages of this competition, and even though they haven't managed it yet, I think they are the team to beat in the UEFA Champions League this season.

In-form Neymar a great top scorer price

At the time of writing, Nemyar has had a direct hand in 13 goals in his first five league appearances (7 goals, 6 assists) - that's just ridiculous.

He's had 15 shots in those matches, and has ended up on penalty duty already, this after Kylian Mbappe missed a spot kick early into the campaign. Rumours say he isn't too happy to have lost that role despite his increased power around the club, but If there's one other player in the world who won't care about that, it's Brazilian maestro Neymar.

At 30, he's looking to have a consistent campaign for the first time in years, and maybe, just maybe, he'll let Mbappe deal with all the off-field drama this season and enjoy playing with Messi like they did at Barcelona - the last time both men won the competition was back in 2014-15 with the Spanish giants.

At 16/1, he represents huge value, whether that be outright or each-way (pays 4 places), and should he survive injuries this season, the Brazilian could rack up a decent number during the group stages alone. I expect his side to go all the way this season, and Neymar could be the catalyst in front of goal to ensure that happens.

After all, he finished as the competition's joint top scorer in 2014-15 with 10 goals, alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

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Joe Dyer

Rely on holders to retain their crown

At 9/1 Real Madrid look worth an each-way play for a repeat of last season's Champions League win.

There is continuity on the bench and on the sidelines with minimum departures from the playing staff and last year's manager steering the ship.

Age has not withered star striker Karim Benzema and the club are nicely into their stride in domestic competition.

Real have repeatedly performed in the competition and the 9/1 is enough to justify an each-way play with a deep run in the compeititon expected.

Spurs way too short to top group

Tottenham look far too short at 1.584/7 to win Group D and despite being a fan I will readily put them up as a lay to finish top of the pile.

In Eintracht Frankfurt, Marseille and Sporting Lisbon, Tottenham are one of a quartet of well-matched teams - why they are odds-on and all the others 7.413/2 and above baffles me a little.

For all his managerial genius, Antonio Conte does not boast a phenomenal Champions League record and while Spurs addressed some of the issues in their squad during the summer transfer window, they arguably look a bit short for cover across all three areas of the pitch.

These next couple of months are going to be a slog and just one mis-step or bad luck with injuries could seem them fail to come through as group winners. The 1.68/13 looks a lay to me.