Champions League quarter-final preview: English sides fancied for first leg ties

The Champions League returns as we prepare for more mouth-watering fixtures this week but who will come out on top in the quarter final first legs?

Here are our previews of three cracking quarter final matches.

Benfica v Liverpool

Benfica take on Liverpool on Tuesday night at the Estádio da Luz with the hopes of causing a classic Champions League upset in the first leg of their quarter final tie.

There have been 10 previous European matches between Benfica and Liverpool with the Portuguese side only playing Bayern Munich (12) and Manchester United (11) more times in European competition. Benfica have only won one of their last six home games against English sides in European competition and are huge underdogs to win this time at 7/1. Darwin Núñez is Benfica’s top scorer in the Champions League this season with four goals and one more goal will see him equal Nuno Gomes’ record of five goals in the 1998-99 season. He is priced at 9/5 to score anytime.

Liverpool are unbeaten in their last eight Champions League matches versus Portuguese opponents winning six and drawing two, so it comes to little surprise that they are strong 2/5 favourites to win in 90 minutes on Tuesday. No player has ever scored more than six times away from home for Liverpool in a single season in European competition, but a Mohammed Salah goal would see him break that record and become the first ever Liverpool player to do so. The Egyptian King is priced at 10/11 to score anytime.

Man City v Atletico Madrid

Manchester City take on Atletico Madrid in European competition for the first time in their history and what a way to do it in a Champions League quarter final.

After defeating Manchester United in the round of 16, Atletico have the chance to win on consecutive away trips in England for the first time ever. Diego Simeone’s side are priced at a large 9/1 to win in 90 minutes here. No goalkeeper has kept as many clean sheets as Jan Oblak since the start of the 2014/15 season. Oblak has not conceded in 30 of his 67 games and he will be looking to make that 31 against the Citizens.

Manchester City have won three of their four meetings with Spanish clubs in the Champions League under Pep Guardiola and the last time they faced a Spanish side in the knockout rounds, they eliminated Real Madrid after a 4-2 aggregate win in 2019-20. Pep Guardiola’s side are clear 2/9 favourites to qualify for the last four. Riyad Mahrez has been directly involved in more goals than any other player for Pep Guardiola’s side in this season’s competition and he is priced at 23/20 to score once again.

Chelsea v Real Madrid

For the second successive season, Chelsea will face Real Madrid in the Champions League, but will history repeat itself as Thomas Tuchel’s side look to defeat Real Madrid once again?

Chelsea are unbeaten in their last eight games against Spanish teams in European competition and they could become the first English team to eliminate them from the knockout stages of the competition on multiple occasions. They are priced at 8/11 to qualify for the semi-finals. Christian Pulisic has been directly involved in six goals for Chelsea in the Champions League which means no player has contributed more than the American. Pulisic is priced at 23/10 to find the back of the net on Wednesday evening.

Real Madrid have faced Chelsea more times without ever winning than they have against any other side in European competition drawing twice and losing three times in the process. Los Blancos are 21/20 to put that to an end and qualify for the last four. Karim Benzema has scored eight goals for Real Madrid in the Champions League this season, which is already his most in a single campaign in the competition and the Frenchman is priced at 5/4 to bag his ninth at Stamford Bridge.

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