Manchester City. Real Madrid. Arsenal. Bayern Munich. Liverpool. Barcelona. Inter Milan.

These are the names you’ll be hearing most often in the context of teams that should go deep in the Champions League this season, but we all know plenty about all of them already. What about the teams that granted, *probably* won’t win it all but can still cause some serious problems especially considering the way in which the new format has increased the amount of “heavyweight” matchups. I’ve selected five teams with odds steeper than 50/1 to win it all (via SkyBet) that I think the teams with loftier expectations may be dreading facing up against.

Aston Villa

Odds to win the Champions League: 66/1

Home Fixtures – Bayern Munich (Oct 2nd), Bologna (Oct 22nd), Juventus (Nov 27th), Celtic (Jan 29th)

Away Fixtures – Young Boys (Sept 17th), Club Brugge (Nov 6th), RB Leipzig (Dec 10th), Monaco (Jan 21st)

Starting off with the most obvious one, Villa were the team every one wanted to avoid from pot 4. Overachieving last season under Unai Emery and showing some real character in the early weeks of this season, Villa may have lost a couple of key players in Douglas Luiz and Moussa Diaby but their overall squad is deeper and more prepared to fight on two fronts than last season. Their two most important players are at opposite ends of the pitch, with the goals of Ollie Watkins and the presence of Emi Martinez set to be key once again. Playing both Bayern and Juventus at home also benefits Villa, giving them the chance to steal points from some of Europe’s big boys. Villa are hardly an unknown quantity at this point, but I don’t think fan’s expectations are too high to make it past the round of 16 this year. That said, momentum can do a lot in football, and they seem to have been given a fairly favourable set of fixtures to navigate.

RB Leipzig

Odds to win the Champions League: 80/1

Home Fixtures – Juventus (Oct 2nd), Liverpool (Oct 23rd), Aston Villa (Dec 10th), Sporting Lisbon (Jan 22nd)

Away Fixtures – Atletico Madrid (Sept 19th), Celtic (Nov 5th), Inter Milan (Nov 26th), Sturm Graz (Jan 29th)

Probably the most talented team on this list, RB Leipzig have been threatening to break into Europe’s elite for some time now but have often fallen short. Despite consistently seeing talent exit out the door, the team have consistently shown a knack for finding dynamic young talent. Just recently they became the team to end Bayer Leverkusen’s imperious unbeaten league run scaling back to the 2022/23 season. While their fixtures on paper seem trickier than Villa’s, including trips to both the San Siro to play Inter and to Madrid to face Atleti, any team they come up against will have to account for a front three as dangerous as Xavi Simons, Benjamin Sesko and Lois Openda.

Monaco

Odds to win the Champions League: 80/1

Home Fixtures – Barcelona (Sept 19th), Red Star Belgrade (22nd Oct), Benfica (27th Nov), Aston Villa (21st Jan)

Away Fixtures – Dinamo Zagreb (Oct 2nd), Bologna (5th Nov), Arsenal (11th Dec), Inter Milan (29th Jan)

Adolf Hutter’s impact on Monaco cannot be understated. Their 2nd-place finish last season was their best since 2017/18 and sees them return to Europe’s premier competition. An attacking, dynamic squad filled with talent both recognisable and up-and-coming. Denis Zakaria, Takumi Minamino, Aleksandr Golovin and Breel Embolo are among the talented senior players, but the X-factor comes through their plethora of young talent. Eliesse Ben Seghir (19), Maghnes Akliouche (22), Lamine Camara (20) and Soungoutou Magassa (20) are all expected to start regularly this season and contribute to them in the league and in Europe. Alongside Roberto De Zerbi’s Marseille, Monaco are expected to form what should be a credible title challenge to a now Kylian Mbappe-less PSG. As far as the Champions League goes, they do have some tricky matches but also will feel good about winning around half their matches, which would be enough to see them into the next round. Over two legs, this exciting front foot side can cause any team problems.

Sporting CP

Odds to win the Champions League: 80/1

Home Fixtures – Lille (Sept 17th), Manchester City (Nov 5th), Arsenal (Nov 26th), Bologna (Jan 29th)

Away Fixtures – PSV Eindhoven (Oct 1st), Sturm Graz (Oct 22nd), Club Brugge (Dec 10th), RB Leipzig (Jan 22nd)

There was a point this previous summer where Ruben Amorim’s appointment at Liverpool looked inevitable. Now, we’re in September and he’s still manager of Sporting, which coupled with their retaining of ultra-prolific goalscorer Viktor Gyokeres makes them perhaps the team most primed to be a dark horse this time out. I wouldn’t recommend betting on any of these teams to outright win the competition… but Sporting would be my pick if you had to choose one. They are a team with a great deal of continuity both in terms of playing personnel and staff and have started this season on absolute fire. Perhaps the bet to make is Gyokeres for top scorer. Erling Haaland aside, no one is doing it better than him in world football at the moment.

PSV Eindhoven

Odds to win the Champions League: 100/1

Home Fixtures – Sporting CP (Oct 1st), Girona (Nov 5th), Shakhtar Donetsk (Nov 27th), Liverpool (Jan 29th)

Away Fixtures – Juventus (Sept 17th), PSG (Oct 22nd), Brest (Dec 10th), Red Star Belgrade (Jan 21st)

Peter Bosz’s PSV Eindhoven side were remarkable last season, particularly in the first half. There is a feeling that they are slightly less devastating than they were last season but one thing’s for sure: you can expect high tempo, risk-heavy attacking football. Their opening match away at Thiago Motta’s Juventus who are yet to find real consistency in the early parts of his tenure will be seen as a free hit. As obviously shown through their high odds to win the whole thing, that may end up being a trend for the Dutch side. Their lack of pressure in this competition coupled with their strong domestic form should make them a tough match for any team. In Luuk de Jong, they have a talisman who has only improved with age and they also bring plenty of dynamism through the likes of Johan Bakayoko and Hirving Lozano. Bosz’s sides have been known to be at risk of implosion at any time in the past, so they’ll be particularly interesting to watch for that reason as well.

The Champions League is about to kick-off and expect more coverage to come here!