Mark Langdon: Champions League, Europa League and Conference predictions

The signs are looking ominous for the rest as Manchester City look to be finding their form at just the right time and they should be shorter than 11-5 to lift the Champions League in what could quite easily be another treble-winning campaign.

City have been missing the spine of their side in John Stones, Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland for chunks of the season but De Bruyne and Haaland are now back in the groove and Stones is said to be returning soon, which is going to be a massive boost for Pep Guardiola as he gears his squad to peak.

Guardiola's side had 15 shots on target at Brentford on Monday and in the away game previous to that they limited Tottenham to one shot in the entire 90 minutes. That suggests City, who have won nine in a row in all competitions and should be okay against Copenhagen in the last 16, are in the right shape to successfully defend their Champions League crown even if that is a depressing thought for the state of football.

It's a Champions League lacking depth this season. Bayern Munich are ravaged by injuries and not top of the Bundesliga, while Real Madrid are only two points clear of Girona in La Liga. Those are seen as the next best two teams behind the favourites, but City beat Bayern 6-2 on aggregate last season and Real Madrid 5-1 and it's unlikely Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham's respective arrivals have narrowed the gap significantly.

Arsenal are the only other side shorter than 14-1 and very few of the others seem capable of mixing it at City's level. Paris St-Germain would be one of those, although they remain dragged down by inconsistency, and last season's beaten finalists Inter are possibly another. However, the Italians have drawn Atletico Madrid in an awkward last-16 tie and that's a lot less of a gimme than Bayern versus Lazio or Real Madrid against Leipzig.

Liverpool are roughly the same price to lift the Europe League as City are the Champions League, but at least you know Guardiola's priority will be on Europe's elite prize whereas Jurgen Klopp might consider the secondary competition much lower as he chases a golden goodbye on four fronts.

The games are going to stack up for the Merseysiders, and while they are the best side in the Europa League, it could pay to go for bigger prices. 

Bayer Leverkusen are next in the betting, however, while the narrative looks nice with Xabi Alonso winning the competition en route to replacing Klopp it is worth noting they have needed injury-time goals to win three of their last four matches. It's a remarkable unbeaten run this season, however, on paper Leverkusen's team at 11-2 does not scream out as a value bet, particularly with Milan at around double that price.

Italian teams are outperforming the rest in Europe this season - Serie A tops the 2023-24 Uefa co-efficient - and their triple threat of Milan, Roma and Atalanta are all respected. Milan (v Rennes) and Roma (v Feyenoord) still have to find a path to the last 16, unlike Atalanta, and as the biggest priced of the trio at 25-1 it could pay to follow Gian Piero Gasperini's gang.

Atalanta, also through to the Coppa Italia semi-finals, are fourth in Serie A and their underlying data stacks up well. They are not much worse - if at all - compared to Milan or Roma and this is one of those occasions when the size of club seems to influence outright prices.

Aston Villa deservedly head the Europa Conference League betting, although 12-1 Lille should give punters a nice run. They have lost only two of their 22 matches and in Jonathan David they have a forward capable of playing at a much higher level next season.

A £1 City, Atalanta, Lille treble returns just over £1,000 with Hills and would be more fun than City's impending three-peat.

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