UEFA Champions League: Liverpool predicted to ease into last 16 ...
With the league phase of the UEFA Champions League now past its halfway point, all British teams are in a good position to at least qualify for the play-offs.
Liverpool and Arsenal have their sights more firmly set on finishing in the top eight to ensure a straight path to the last 16.
After matchday five, Liverpool are the only team to still hold a perfect record with five wins from five to leave them sitting pretty at the top of the table, while Arsenal are seventh with 10 points.
Aston Villa’s soaring start in the competition gave them a healthy points haul, but a defeat and a draw - albeit a controversial one against Juventus - in their last two matches has seen them drop out of the top eight.
Manchester City’s inconsistent season sees them down in 17th after letting a 3-0 lead slip to draw 3-3 against Feyenoord last time out.
So, what are the chances of all five British teams reaching the play-offs or, even better, the top eight?
We have asked Opta to power up its supercomputer to tell us the latest probabilities of the sides moving past the league phase.
LIVERPOOL STROLLING INTO THE NEXT ROUND
Liverpool’s stunning form means they are already guaranteed a place in the play-offs but it looks fairly certain they will not need to worry about that, as they are odds-on favourites to secure their place in the top eight and enjoy a safe passage through to the last 16.
Arne Slot’s men have already dispatched AC Milan, Bologna, RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen and defending champions Real Madrid.
They have scored 12 times and only conceded once so will fancy their chances of staying perfect through the league phase with matches against Girona, Lille and PSV to come.
After crunching the numbers, here is how Opta sees Liverpool's chances of qualifying for both the play-offs and the top 8...
WHAT ABOUT ARSENAL AND THE OTHER BRITISH TEAMS?
Opta predicts Arsenal are as good as qualified for the play-off stages, but still have some hard work to do if they are to make the top eight.
Aston Villa, Manchester City and Celtic are all thought to have a great chance of making the play-offs, but the likelihood of a direct passage into the last 16 is significantly less than Liverpool or Arsenal.
Let's have a closer look at Opta’s predictions:
Which teams are in the top eight of the UEFA Champions League?
With five matchdays down, here are the standings at the top of the UEFA Champions League table.
Image credit: TNT Sports
Image credit: Getty Images
Who do the British teams still have to play in the UEFA Champions League?
Opta predict that Arsenal will progress in the UEFA Champions League
Image credit: Getty Images
How does Opta predict who will progress in the UEFA Champions League?
The prediction model estimates the probability of each match outcome (win, draw or loss) by using betting market odds and Stats Perform’s team rankings.
The odds and rankings are based on historical and recent team performances.
The model considers the strength of opponents by using these match outcome probabilities and simulates the remaining fixtures in the competition thousands of times.
By analysing the outcome of each of these simulations, the model can see how often teams finished in each league position to create the final predictions.
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