Best Soccer Outright Bets for Rest of the Season
Many of the top soccer competitions in the world have come down to the wire, as we’ve seen a number of exciting battles this season. The domestic leagues are in their final stretch, and the European cups are in their final stages. Below I’ll provide my best bets for the remaining notable soccer contentions that still have a race for the title.
Champions League
The Champions League is in the closing stages of the competition as only four teams remain. The four remaining teams include Italian sides AC Milan and Inter Milan, English soccer side Manchester City, and Spanish side Real Madrid. The Italian rivals will face each other in one of the Semi Final matches, as Man City will face Madrid in the other.
Currently, the winner of the Man City and Madrid game will enter the final match as the two favorites to win the soccer competition, as Man City sit at -150 odds and Madrid sit at +340. The two Italian sides are outside contenders, as AC Milan has +850 odds and Inter Milan has +650 odds.
My pick to win the soccer tournament is Manchester City, and even though their odds aren’t that great, I still think there’s value. They’re the best team in the world at the moment and are still in contention for a treble. However, if this year’s soccer competition has taught me anything, it’s that you can never count a team out.
Bundesliga
After 10 consecutive Bundesliga titles, it seems as if Bayern Munich still have some late-season soccer challengers in Borussia Dortmund. Bayern have cruised to victory every year for the past decade, but after a string of disappointing performances and manager switches, the German giants may finish the season without a trophy for the first time in over a decade.
Bayern have gone 17-8-4, scoring 59 points this season, while Dortmund hold a slight advantage at 60 points with a 19-3-7 record. Even though Bayern still remain beneath Dortmund on the table, they remain massive favorites to retain the title at -900, while Dortmund sit at +500.
Even though they sit far behind Bayern in the odds, Dortmund is my pick to win the Bundesliga and end their 10-year drought. Both teams only have five remaining games, and Bayern is the only one that has a relatively tough matchup, as they will face 5th place RB Leipzig on May 20 at 12:30 pm EST. Even though both squads have a relatively light schedule to end the season, the Bundesliga is one of the most unpredictable leagues in the world and anything could happen down the stretch. I will certainly be pulling for Dortmund to finish their season strong.
Premier League
In what has been one of the most exciting title races in the world this season, the Premier League race has become relatively less significant after Man City’s 4-1 thrashing of Arsenal on Wednesday. Arsenal sit two points ahead of Man City on the table, but with two games in the reigning Premier League Champions have tightened their grip on the trophy.
After their victory on Wednesday, Man City’s odds shot up to -1200 to win the league, while Arsenal’s dropped drastically to +1000. Although Man City still has 7 games that they need to get results from, I think Arsenal are in a really tough spot to come back from their loss and will need to not only be perfect for the rest of the season, but will also need a lot of help from other teams too. There’s no value in it, but Man City is my pick to win the Premier League.
Europa League
The Europa League has been one of the most unpredictable competitions in the world this season as in-form juggernaut teams like Barcelona, Arsenal, and Manchester United have all failed to advance to the Semi-Final round. The remaining teams in the competition include two Italian clubs in Juventus and AS Roma, one German side in Bayer Leverkusen Lisbon, and one Spanish side in Sevilla.
The two Italian sides enter their Semi-Final matches as favorites as Roma (+117) will face Leverkusen (+275) and Juve (-120) will face Sevilla (+375). Juventus are the odds on favorites to win the competition at +200 odds, and are followed by Leverkusen at +280 odds, Roma at +300 odds, and Sevilla at +375 odds.
The Europa League has seen some tight play and impressive comebacks this season, which can account for the very close betting odds between the remaining four teams. Although they have the third-best chance to win the competition, Roma are my pick to win the competition at +300.
Jose Mourinho has built himself a side high in quality soccer, and they were able to prove their resilience after their 4-1 comeback win against Feyenoord in the 2nd leg of the Quarterfinals. Roma is playing some inspired soccer at the moment, and at +300 odds, I think they’re the easy pick.
