THE NEW-LOOK Champions League format will produce a new winner of the competition, according to a supercomputer.
Earlier today clubs learned their fate in the knockout phase of Europe’s premier club competition.
Premier League table-toppers and six-time competition winners Liverpool are due to face off against Paris Saint-Germain in the last-16.
Elsewhere, Arsenal were drawn against PSV while Aston Villa take on Club Brugge.
There are all-German and all-Spanish derby last-16 clashes with Bayer Leverkusen set to take on Bayern Munich and Real Madrid facing Atletico Madrid.
Meanwhile, 2023 finalists Inter Milan will take on Feyenoord with Lille facing Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona up against Benfica.
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With so many mouth-watering fixtures to go, it is difficult to pick a winner out of the final 16 clubs.
However, Bettingexpert’s supercomputer BETSiE has attempted to predict the winner after running a simulation of the tournament 100,000 times.
The algorithm takes into account fixtures from last season, pre-season results and current season progress and projections for the season ahead.
Starting out with Liverpool, Arne Slot’s side have been tipped as marginal favourites to progress over PSG with a 53.3 per cent probability to win in the last-16.
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The Reds’ accumulative odds then drop to 40.1 per cent to win the quarter-finals and 20 per cent to win the semi-finals, before being tipped with a 12.8 per cent chance to win a seventh title.
That win rate only ranks Liverpool as fourth favourites overall.
Serial winners and current holders Real Madrid are only ranked THIRD favourites to win the whole competition at 14.4 per cent.
Second place is Barcelona, who have a favourable potential route to the final with a 15.2 per cent chance to win.
A surprise first-time win has been tipped for Arsenal, with the Gunners given a 22.4 per cent likelihood of winning the tournament .
Mikel Arteta’s side have been given an 87.3 per cent probability to beat PSV in the last-16, before 53.3 per cent odds to win the quarter-finals and 33.1 per cent to win the semi-finals.
The club have reached the final once before, losing the 2006 final 2-1 to Barcelona, while the last time they even made the semi-finals came back in 2009.
VILLA STRUGGLE
Aston Villa, enjoying their first Champions League season since 1983, have been handed just a 2.8 per cent probability to win the tournament.
The supercomputer reckons they will win their last-16 tie against Club Brugge with odds of 83.8 per cent.
But the prospect of then beating one of PSG or Liverpool is not favoured by the supercomputer, with the probability plummeting to just 24.5 per cent.
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Last year’s finalist Dortmund have just a 5.9 per cent chance of making the final again according to the supercomputer, while that elusive win is given just a 1.8 per cent chance.
Six clubs: Benfica (0.9 per cent), Atletico Madrid (0.5 per cent), Lille (0.1 per cent), PSV (0.1 per cent), Feyenoord (0.1 per cent) and Brugge (0.0 per cent) won less than one per cent of simulations.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
