Champions League 2023-24 outright predictions and free football tips + get £40 free bets from BetMGM

Best bets

Real Madrid to win the Champions League
2pts 11-2 general

Inter to win the Champions League
1pt each-way 16-1 general

You can bet on the Champions League here and get £40 in free bets with BetMGM

Champions League outright predictions

Will Harry Kane finally get his hands on a piece of major silverware? Can Xavi end his time at Barcelona with the biggest prize of them all? Is it finally Paris Saint-Germain's year? Or are we at the dawn of an era of continental dominance for Manchester City?

These are just some of the questions to be answered as the Champions League returns with a bang this week.

Each year February brings with it the Super Bowl, Valentine's Day and, in the last couple of seasons at least, the start of a mammoth City unbeaten run.

Pep Guardiola's treble winners have started early this season, though, and are on a ten-game winning streak as they ready themselves in their quest to be crowned kings of Europe for a second season in succession.

The Citizens are hot on the heels of Liverpool in the Premier League title race and are unsurprisingly favourites to conquer Europe once again.

Kevin De Bruyne is back, Guardiola's squad is fully fit and firing, and they are undoubtedly the team everyone has to beat.

But, at 11-5, they are probably short enough and there are more attractive options further down the betting.

The Kane factor will no doubt persuade many punters to favour Bayern Munich. The England captain, who has scored 28 goals in all competitions for his new club, is having an excellent time in Bavaria, albeit the same cannot be said for his manager.

Thomas Tuchel is under increasing pressure after Bayern lost ground in the Bundesliga title race with a 3-0 loss to Bayern Leverkusen on Saturday, and they are only marginally shorter to win an seventh European crown than they were at the start of the group stage – 5-1 from a pre-tournament 11-2.

Arsenal are the other Premier League club through to the knockout stage and they will have their sights set on a first Champions League quarter-final appearance since 2010 when they take on Porto in the last 16.

Wins over City and Liverpool this season show that the Gunners can beat any side on their day and it could be said that Mikel Arteta's men have a better chance of winning the Champions League than they do the Premier League given City's domestic dominance.

However, questionable squad depth and a lack of ruthlessness in the final third tempers enthusiasm.

That Xavi is parting ways with Barcelona at the end of the season only serves to illustrate that all is not well in Catalonia and a last-16 tie with Napoli is a tricky assignment for a side who are back in the knockouts after a three-year absence.

Cases can be made for PSG, Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund at bigger odds but it is the competition's most successful club, Real Madrid, who seem the likeliest to test City's superiority.

Although housed in a soft section, Los Blancos were faultless in the group stage, winning all six of their matches against Napoli, Braga and Union Berlin.

Since then they have thrashed Barcelona 4-1 in the final of the Spanish Super Cup and have begun to pull away at the top of La Liga.

Saturday's 4-0 mauling of surprise title rivals Girona has given Madrid a five-point advantage at the summit and they could soon be away and gone if continuing to pick up points at such a relentless pace – Madrid are averaging 2.54 per game in La Liga this term.

That should allow Carlo Ancelotti to place more emphasis on the Champions League and Real shouldn't face too much trouble from an incosistent Leipzig outfit in the last 16.

In Jude Bellingham, Real possess arguably the best player on the planet at present. The 20-year-old England star has scored 20 goals and laid on eight assists in all competitions in an exceptional start to his career at the Bernabeu.

The midfielder's goal-scoring abilities have compensated for a lack of a attacking focal point with wide players Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior also weighing in with their fare share of important strikes.

Of the remainder, last season's losing finalist Inter stand out at 16-1.

The Nerazzurri pushed City harder than many observers thought in Istanbul last June and they are even stronger this time around.

Under Simone Inzaghi, Inter have transformed into a winning machine, winning 19 of their 23 games in Serie A to seize the initiative at the top.

Lautaro Martinez has thrived since taking over the captaincy, netting 19 goals in the league, while the addition of Marcus Thuram has proven to be a masterstroke.

But it is Inter's defensive strength that could carry them through to the latter stages of the competition, having conceded just ten goals in Serie A this term.

They missed out on top spot in their Champions League group on only goal difference after a tied head-to-head record with Real Sociedad, but Inter were unbeaten in six games and dug deep to grind out results when required.

Such a ruthless edge should serve them well and they represent great each-way value.

The Champions League knockout stage rarely goes according to plan and with seven of the last 16 having never been crowned European champions, there will be no shortage of desire on show as the world's greatest club competition resumes.

Grab £40 in BetMGM free bets when you bet on the Champions League

We’ve already mentioned that BetMGM are offering £40 in free bets when you bet on the Champions League.

Here is how you can claim this BetMGM £40 free betting offer when you place a qualifying bet on the Champions League this week.

• Head over to BetMGM through this link to sign up
• Click the sign-up button and follow the process to fill in your details
• Place a £10 qualifying bet at minimum odds of 2.0 (EVS)
• Once your qualifying bet settles, 4x £10 free bets will be automatically credited to your account
• Note that your 4x £10 free bets apply to different markets, so ensure you read full T&Cs

BetMGM betting sign-up offer: terms and conditions

It's worth taking a few minutes to read through the terms and conditions associated with the new player promotion before signing up. Doing so will help you get a better grasp of the details of this BetMGM betting offer and what's expected of you as a new player.

The promotion from BetMGM gives you 4x £10 free bets to place across racing, football and other relevant markets. Some betting tokens are only applicable to certain sports, so it’s worth taking a minute to read through the T&Cs of this offer.

• New customers only
• Customers have seven days to place a qualifying bet to receive 4x Free Bets: 1x £10 Horseracing, 1x £10 bet builder, 1x £10 acca and 1x £10 football
• Seven-day expiry
• Exclusions apply
• Stakes are not returned
• Further T&Cs apply

Click for free bets and betting offers from the Racing Post

Commercial notice: This article contains affiliate links. Offers are handpicked and come from operators our experts have first-hand experience of. Opening an account via one of these links will earn revenue for the Racing Post, which will be used to continue producing our award-winning coverage of horseracing and sports betting.