Champions League: Premier League Clubs’ Quarter-Final Hopes
- The first-leg Champions League Round of 16 results have thrown Premier League teams' hopes into doubt
- Tottenham, Manchester City, and Chelsea face steep uphill battles after heavy defeats, with Opta’s predictions plunging their chances
- The second legs of the Round of 16 promise to be even more dramatic and thrilling
The 2025/26 UEFA Champions League has reached a critical stage, with six Premier League clubs vying for a spot in the quarter-finals.
Before the first leg of the round of 16 matches were played on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, analytics experts Opta had already offered their predictions on each English side’s likelihood of progressing.
Source: Getty Images
Opta's UCL predictions before 1st legs
According to the BBC, Opta’s supercomputer analysis highlighted optimism for England’s representatives ahead of the high-stakes fixtures.
The six last-16 ties featuring Premier League clubs were: Galatasaray vs Liverpool, Atletico Madrid vs Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United vs Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen vs Arsenal, PSG vs Chelsea, and Real Madrid vs Manchester City.
Before kick-off, Opta’s predicted chances of reaching the last eight were heavily in favour of Arsenal and Liverpool.
Arsenal topped the list with an 85.8% chance, followed by Liverpool at 82.3%. Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham, and Newcastle were rated more cautiously, with City at 64.3%, Chelsea at 53.3%, Tottenham at 46.3%, and Newcastle at 44.7%.
Source: Getty Images
These projections reflected expectations based on team form, historical Champions League performance, and statistical modelling, giving fans an early picture of which clubs were most likely to survive the knockout round.
Opta's UCL predictions after 1st legs
Meanwhile, the first leg of the round of 16 brought shock results and several high-scoring encounters, prompting Opta to update its predictions significantly.
On Tuesday, March 10, Galatasaray secured a narrow 1–0 victory over Liverpool, while Newcastle United played out a 1–1 draw with Barcelona.
Atletico Madrid produced a dominant performance to defeat Tottenham Hotspur 5–2, and Bayern Munich thrashed Atalanta 6–1 in a one-sided encounter.
The action continued on Wednesday, March 11, when Bayer Leverkusen and Arsenal shared the spoils in a 1–1 draw.
Real Madrid delivered a commanding display to beat Manchester City 3–0, Bodo/Glimt cruised to a 3–0 win over Sporting Lisbon, and Paris Saint-Germain overwhelmed Chelsea with a 5–2 victory.
Following these results, the predicted chances of Premier League clubs reaching the quarter-finals were adjusted dramatically.
Arsenal remained strong but saw a slight dip to 77.9%, while Liverpool’s probability fell to 53.8% after their defeat in Istanbul.
Newcastle’s chances edged down to 32.2%, and the outlook for Manchester City, Chelsea, and Tottenham worsened drastically, with City at 9.4%, Chelsea 7.3%, and Spurs only 3.3%.
Mystic cat predicts Real Madrid victory
Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that a 'prophetic' cat had forecast the result of the Champions League showdown between Real Madrid and Manchester City.
The cat selected the bowl marked “Madrid,” signalling a win for the Spanish side. Eventually, Los Blancos went ahead to clinch a commanding 3-0 first-leg success.
Source: YEN.com.gh
