Manchester City a Massive -835 Favorite to Top Champions League Group C
- England’s EPL runners-up eager to win trophy to match their wealthy status
- Porto are second favorites with Marseille and Olympiakos making up the foursome
- See all odds and best bets for UCL Group C starting Wednesday at 3pm ET
Manchester City begin a fresh attempt to join football’s elite when they kick off in Champions League Group C this week.
Pep Guardiola’s City team are massive favourites to win the section ahead of Porto, Marseille and Olympiakos.
The English side are second favorites at +450 behind holders Bayern Munich to win the competition next May.
Champions League Group C Odds
| Team | Top 2 Odds | Odds to Win |
|---|---|---|
| Manchester City | -10000 | -835 |
| Porto | +100 | +900 |
| Marseille | +130 | +1100 |
| Olympiakos | +350 | +3500 |
Odds from Draftkings,com taken on October 18.
At DraftKings, City are priced at a hugely wide but unrewarding -835 with Porto as second favorites at +900 – which is much more promising in terms of hoping for an upset finish.
It is now 10 seasons since Guardiola won the second of his UCL titles with Barcelona and he has failed to get beyond the last eight stage in four prior campaigns with City.
Last season’s exit in a 3-1 defeat by Lyon in the one-legged quarterfinal was particularly disappointing.
Stuttering Start in EPL
The Manchester club have made an average start in England’s Premier League after finishing second last season.
They begin the UCL campaign at home against Porto at 3pm ET on Wednesday.
Portuguese champions Porto have lost some key players, with teenage sensation Fabio Silva heading to Wolves and defender Alex Telles joining Manchester United.
FULL TIME | Sporting 2-2 Porto
A really entertaining first half and a stop-start second half results in a 2-2 draw, Porto looked to be on their way to three points but Vietto was on hand to grab his side a point near the end.
Both sides on 7 points and sit 2nd and 3rd in Liga. pic.twitter.com/wgsYXiK44r
— Próxima Jornada (@ProximaJornada1) October 17, 2020
Marseille were fifth in France’s Ligue1 on Sunday.
They travel to meet Olympiakos, also at 3pm ET on Wednesday.
Group outsiders Olympiakos are unbeaten after four matches in the Greek league.
City are desperate to win the UCL after 12 years of massive investment by their Abu Dhabi owners.
They reached the group stage via the playoff round – winning 2-0 at home against Omonia of Cyprus and then drawing 0-0 away.
City are desperate to win the UCL after 12 years of massive investment by their Abu Dhabi owners.
But they have reached the last four under Manuel Pellegrini only once in 2015-16.
🔴⚪️🦁 #Olympiacos #OLYATR #Slgr #Football #WeKeepOnDreaming pic.twitter.com/quHttG9zr0
— Olympiacos FC (45🏆) (@olympiacosfc) October 17, 2020
Their fortunes this season picked up on Saturday with a 1-0 win at home against Arsenal after a troubled start in the Premier League.
After winning 3-1 at Wolves in their opening game, they suffered a shock 5-2 home defeat by Leicester City before a 1-1 draw at Leeds United. The game at Leeds witnessed the debut of central defender Ruben Dias, who was recruited from Sporting Lisbon to help remedy City’s glaring defensive problems.
The Rest of the Field
City were group stage winners last season but stumbled in drawing two of their last three matches so that may offer some encouragement for taking an outside chance on Porto to win the group.
Porto are rightly-priced as second favourites in this group because they are much stronger than Marseille.
They were league and cup double winners in Portugal last season but exited the UCL at the third qualifying round stage in a 3-3 away goals aggregate defeat by Krasnodar of Russia.
They then reached the last 32 of the Europa League where they were beaten 2-1 away by Bayer Leverkusen and then lost 3-1 at home.
Marseille had an unspectacular transfer window with the most expensive signing that of $9 million defender Alvaro from Villareal.
They are currently second in the table in Portugal having recruited Brazilian forward Felipe Anderson on loan from West Ham United – but have failed to win in their last two games..
Marseille had an unspectacular transfer window with the most expensive signing of $9 million to defender Alvaro from Villareal.
They qualified for the UCL group stage as runners-up in last season’s truncated Ligue1.
Raheem Sterling's goal secures the points for @ManCity. #MyPLMorning pic.twitter.com/i08wLeYY27
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) October 17, 2020
Marseille were last in the UCL in 2013-14 when they lost all six group games.
They were last in European competition in 2018-19 when they finished bottom of their Europa League group.
Olympiakos were also league and cup Double winners last season.
They were third-placed finishers in the UCL group stage in 2019-20 and then reached the last 16 of the Europa League where they crashed out against Wolves – losing 1-0 in England after a 1-1 draw at home.
Pick: Porto (+900)
John Dillon is a leading member of the UK's sporting media, having spent three decades as a national newspaper soccer and sports writer, broadcaster and author. He has covered five World Cups, six European Championships and was Chief Sports Writer at the Daily Express for 14 years.
