Opinion: Predicting Club Trophy Winners for 2025

European FootballOpinionPredictions
Written By Anthony Tazbaz

By: Anthony Tazbaz

Image Credit: Vienna Reyes

With 2024 behind us and European clubs starting to play their first matches of 2025, we shift our focus to the second half of the 2024-25 season in Europe’s top five leagues:

  • 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Premier League (EPL);

  • 🇫🇷 Ligue 1;

  • 🇩🇪 Bundesliga;

  • 🇮🇹 Serie A; and

  • 🇪🇸 LaLiga.

The second half of the season also includes matches played in the latter knockout rounds of cup competitions in the five aforementioned countries and the knockout stages of Europe’s continental club competitions, namely the UEFA Champions League (UCL), UEFA Europa League (UEL) and UEFA Conference League (UECL).

Our 2025 predictions consist of a two-part series. The first part (this article) will include predictions of Europe’s top five leagues, cup competitions in countries that host Europe’s top five leagues and a number of super cup competitions from those same countries; England’s Football Association (FA) Community Shield and Germany’s DfL-Supercup will not be included in this series due to participating clubs only being determined at the end of the 2024-25 season. We will add our predictions for potential winners of the 2025 FA Community Shield and DfL-Supercup in due time.

The second part will include predictions for the 2024-25 editions of the UCL, UEL and UECL. We will release those predictions after the conclusion of the 2024-25 league stages of the UCL and UEL at the end of January; the UECL league stage concluded in mid-December 2024.

This series will be a similar style to last year’s article of our 2024 predicted trophy winners.

Europe’s Top Five Leagues

To properly establish our predictions of Europe’s top five leagues’ winners, the following criterion must be achieved: most of the league’s clubs must have played at least half of their season’s matches (19 in EPL, Serie A and LaLiga and 17 in Ligue 1 and Bundesliga). As well, predictions in this article are highly sensitive to either of the following: our predictions made at the beginning of the 2024-25 season (see parts one and two on our website); and the current rankings of the 2024-25 leagues’ tables.

So far, most clubs in Ligue 1, Bundesliga and LaLiga have not played half of their league matches for the 2024-25 season. We will release our predictions for these competitions accordingly.

*Clubs indicated in bold are our predicted winners.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Premier League

In our early-season predictions, we posited Arsenal FC as the likely 2024-25 EPL winners, finally overcoming their condemnation to second place behind Manchester City for the past two seasons. Despite City‘s recent struggles — during which they won only one match between November 1 and December 29, 2024 — Arsenal’s performances stagnated, which culminated in squandered leads and points. Meanwhile, Liverpool FC took advantage of City’s and Arsenal’s misfortunes, and at the half-way mark, The Reds currently hold first place in the 2024-25 EPL table , having accumulated 46 points: 14 wins, four draws and one loss.

At this stage last season, after 19 matches, Arsenal were ranked in first place with 50 points. However, Manchester City ultimately emerged as 2023-24 EPL winners, having won their fourth consecutive title, which amounts to eight total EPL titles.

Understanding that the league leaders hold a six-point lead with one match less played than second-place Arsenal, we predict that Liverpool will maintain, if not increase, their lead at the top of the table and win the 2024-25 EPL title. It would be their second such title since the EPL’s inception in February 1992.

🇫🇷 Ligue 1

Regarding French football, it may come as a shock that we picked Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) to win the 2024-25 Ligue 1 title. Overall, the capital club dominated French league football in the last 12 years — Les Parisiens have won the last three and 10 of the last 12 Ligue 1 titles, and finished within the top two in the Ligue 1 table in each of the last 13 seasons. PSG also boast the most valuable team based on the squad players’ transfer values. The French capital club’s squad value is currently pegged at €850.5 million; players loaned to other clubs are not included in this tally. AS Monaco have the second-most valuable Ligue 1 squad, which is valued at €397.5 million.

With matchday 17 out of 34 concluded after January 12, it looks increasingly plausible that PSG will hoist the Ligue 1 title in 2025. Following their January 12 home victory against AS Saint-Étienne by a 2-1 score, PSG hold a seven-point lead at the top of the 2024-25 Ligue 1 table, a sizeable lead ahead of second-place and arch-rivals Olympique de Marseille. This lead ultimately represents an even larger one than that of last year, when they held a five-point lead ahead of OGC Nice after 17 matches; PSG finished that season as winners with a nine-point lead ahead of runners-up Monaco.

We ultimately predict that the 2024-25 league title will go to PSG. Unless Les Parisiens experience a number of medium- to long-term injuries and a major slump in performances, it looks unlikely that Marseille or any other club (e.g., third-place AS Monaco or fourth-place OGC Nice) will erase the deficit in the table and emerge as 2024-25 Ligue 1 winners. PSG’s fellow Ligue 1 competitors should also anticipate an enhanced Parisian squad in the coming days. That, however, remains contingent on the signing of Napoli forward (as of writing) and Georgian international Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who is rumoured to have agreed to personal terms with the club.

🇩🇪 Bundesliga

Predictions will be released at the half-way mark of the 2024-25 Bundesliga season.

🇮🇹 Serie A

In our first part of the predicted league winners for 2024-25, we selected Inter Milan (Inter) to narrowly win the Serie A title ahead of such clubs as Juventus and Atalanta BC. However, despite Juventus remaining undefeated in 18 league matches — seven wins and 11 draws — rivals Inter and Atalanta each hold eight- and nine-point leads above Juventus in the 2024-25 Serie A table; SSC Napoli have also returned into the mix for this year’s title race after finishing in 10th place last season. At this stage last season, Inter Milan already held a sizeable lead in the 2023-24 Serie A table, which resulted in I Nerazzuri winning their 20th league title (Scudetto) with a 19-point lead above second-place and local rivals AC Milan.

This season, Napoli hold a three-point lead ahead of second-place Atalanta and a four-point lead ahead of third-place Inter; however, Atalanta and Inter each played one and two matches less than Napoli. This means that once all clubs played the same number of league matches, either Atalanta or Inter (or both clubs) could overtake Napoli as the leading club in the table. (Both clubs also hold tiebreakers over Napoli due to Atalanta winning their head-to-head and Inter boasting a superior goal differential.)

Ultimately, we maintain our prediction that Inter will successfully defend their 2023-24 title and win their 21st Scudetto. However, unlike last season, this title race will likely go down to the wire, perhaps until the final matchday. That said, considering the smaller sizes of Atalanta and Napoli and their cities — Bergamo and Naples — it would be a wholesome end to a wonderful Serie A season if either Napoli or Atalanta claim the 2024-25 Scudetto. Napoli aim to win their fourth title — a second in three seasons — whereas Atalanta seek their first Serie A title in club history.

🇪🇸 LaLiga

Concerning Spanish football, we predicted that Real Madrid would win the 2024-25 LaLiga title. This prediction is undoubtedly up in the air. At the beginning of the season, FC Barcelona, which hired Hansi Flick during the summer to become their new manager, took the league by storm. After 10 matches, Barcelona held first place in the 2024-25 LaLiga table, having garnered a staggering 27 points out of a possible 30: nine wins and one loss. However, their rivals — 2023-24 league winners Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid — trailed closely, having mustered 24 and 20 points throughout 10 matches, respectively.

In the nine following matches leading to the half-way mark (19 matches), Barcelona accumulated only 11 points — three wins, two draws and four losses — whereas Real Madrid and Atlético earned 19 and 24 points, respectively. As a result, after 19 matches, Atlético lead LaLiga with 44 points, with both Real Madrid and Barcelona trailing by one and eight points. Bilbao-based club Athletic Club are also in contention for the league title after garnering 36 points during the first half of their league campaign.

At the half-way mark of the 2023-24 season, Real Madrid led the league in tandem with Girona FC after accumulating 48 points — 15 wins, three draws and one loss — in 19 matches; Madrid held the tie-breaker due to a higher goal differential and a head-to-head advantage after defeating Girona 3-0 during first half of that season. At the end of that season, Madrid won the 2024-25 LaLiga title in decisive fashion, mustering 95 points and a ten-point lead ahead of runners-up Barcelona after 38 matches; Girona ended the season with 81 points.

With four clubs still in legitimate contention for the 2024-25 LaLiga title, it is very challenging to develop a firm prediction for its winner. However, based on squad talent and depth, the 2024 summer transfer window and, ultimately, our early-season predictions, we re-iterate that Real Madrid will win LaLiga in 2025. While Barcelona have significantly improved under Flick, their recent stagnation coupled with a few injuries may place them a step behind the front-runner club come the final stretch — the last three to four matches — of the season. While Bilbao may be a wildcard to winning the league title, current league leaders Atlético Madrid will likely maintain a strong challenge with their local rivals and Catalonian counterparts until the final stretch of the season.

In fact, should two clubs duel for the league title within the last couple of matches, which appears plausible, we fancy an all-Madrid clash for the title, with Real Madrid emerging as our ultimate winners. It should be one for the ages!

Cup Competitions

Regarding predictions for cup competitions in the European countries hosting the continent’s top five leagues, to properly establish our predictions, the following criterion must be achieved: the competition must have concluded the round of 32 stage. So far, this stage has yet to be completed in the FA Cup, Coupe de France and Copa del Rey. We will release our predictions for these competitions accordingly.

*Clubs indicated in bold are our predicted winners; clubs underlined are our predicted dark horses.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 EFL Cup

The first leg matches of the 2024-25 EFL Cup semifinals will take place on Tuesday, January 7 and Wednesday, January 8, 2025 (see our weekly lookout). The competition’s remaining clubs — all competing in the EPL — are the following:

  • Arsenal;

  • Newcastle United;

  • Liverpool (2023-24 EFL Cup winners); and

  • Tottenham Hotspur.

Ultimately, we predict that Liverpool will defend their EFL Cup title and win a second consecutive EFL Cup; last season, Liverpool won the final after defeating Chelsea FC 1-0 after extra-time.

However, we list Newcastle United as a notable dark horse for this competition. The Magpies are in excellent form and will be duelling against a stagnant and currently uninspiring Arsenal squad. Considering Newcastle’s seemingly unstoppable attack — and also having won away matches against “big-six” clubs Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur by 2-0 and 2-1 scores within the last week — a round in which the winner scores the most goals across two matches will undoubtedly favour The Magpies.

Regarding the two other clubs, Arsenal ultimately have a better chance of advancing to the final or winning the competition altogether than Tottenham, which will more than likely lose against the reigning EFL Cup winners.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 FA Cup

Predictions will be released after the conclusion of the round of 32 stage.

🇫🇷 Coupe de France

Predictions will be released after the conclusion of the round of 32 stage.

🇩🇪 DfB Pokal

The quarterfinal matches of the 2024-25 DfB Pokal will take place from Tuesday, February 4 to Wednesday, February 26, 2025. The competition’s remaining clubs are the following:

  • Armenia Bielefeld (3. Liga);

  • Bayer Leverkusen (Bundesliga, and 2023-24 DfB Pokal winners);

  • FC Augsburg (Bundesliga);

  • FC Köln (2. Bundesliga);

  • RB Leipzig (Bundesliga);

  • VfB Stuttgart (Bundesliga);

  • VfL Wolfsburg (Bundesliga); and

  • Werder Bremen (Bundesliga).

This year, our prediction to win the 2024-25 DfB Pokal will go to Bayer Leverkusen, which we believe will successfully defend their title and repeat as the competition’s winners; last season, Leverkusen defeated 2. Bundesliga club FC Kaiserslautern by a 1-0 score. Their quarterfinal matchup against Köln is arguably the most lopsided matchup among the four quarterfinal matches. Leverkusen should win their quarterfinal match with ease.

Although the semifinal matchups will be confirmed via a draw and not a fixed bracket, Leverkusen remain the team with the best talent and depth in this competition. They can also rely on their championship experience from last season’s run, as well as on their elite playing style and proven reliability to score important goals in the matches’ final minutes.

Our two dark horses to win the 2024-25 edition of the competition are RB Leipzig and VfL Wolfsburg. Ironically, they will be facing each other in the final quarterfinal match on February 26, 2025. It is plausible that the winner of this match will reach the final, and may win it all. Both clubs have enough talent to defeat any of the remaining clubs and win silverware; RB Leipzig won the 2021-22 and 2022-23 editions of this competition. Both clubs also boast considerable experience after spending several years competing for positions in European competitions — UCL, UEL and UECL — in the past years.

🇮🇹 Coppa Italia

The quarterfinal matches of the 2024-25 Coppa Italia will tentatively take place on Wednesday, February 5. The competition’s remaining clubs — all competing in Serie A — are the following:

  • AC Milan

  • AS Roma

  • Atalanta (2023-24 Coppa Italia runners-up);

  • Bologna FC;

  • Empoli FC;

  • Inter Milan;

  • Juventus FC (2023-24 Coppa Italia winners); and

  • SS Lazio.

While we correctly predicted Juventus to win last year’s Coppa Italia, it is more than likely that they will repeat as winners. They will do so because of the following: defence. Juventus’s defence has enabled them to remain undefeated in league action so far this season; they lost their first domestic match on Friday, January 3 in the Supercoppa Italiana semifinals against AC Milan. Their stellar defending and 15 goals conceded in 18 matches have resulted in the Turin-based club conceding the second-least number of goals after league leaders Napoli, which have conceded only 12 goals in 19 matches. However, among the remaining Coppa Italia competitors, Juventus have conceded the least number of goals. As the old saying goes: “Offence sells tickets, defence wins championships.”

However, defending finalists Atalanta are worthy dark horses. Despite Atalanta’s strong defence throughout the season, the Bergamo-based club is renowned mostly for their attack. So far, Atalanta has scored 62 goals in 25 matches across the following competitions: Serie A (43 goals in 18 matches), UCL (13 goals in six matches) and Coppa Italia (six goals in one match).

Should they defeat Bologna, which will likely materialize, Atalanta may have a strong advantage in a two-legged semifinal matchup, with the team scoring the most goals advancing to the final. Historically, this round has favoured Atalanta, having disposed of fellow Serie A club ACF Fiorentina by a 4-2 aggregate score before losing 1-0 after extra-time in the final. An attack comprising Serie A leading scorer Mateo Retegui and 2024 African Ballon d’Or winner Ademola Lookman should leave Atalanta with the proper tools to make at least another run to the final, if not finally win the whole competition for a second time in club history.

🇪🇸 Copa del Rey

The round of 16 matches of the 2024-25 Copa del Rey round of 16 will take place from Tuesday, January 14 to Thursday, January 16, 2025. The competition’s remaining clubs are the following:

  • Athletic Club (LaLiga, and 2023-24 Copa del Rey winners);

  • Atlético Madrid (LaLiga);

  • CA Osasuna (LaLiga);

  • Celta Vigo (LaLiga);

  • CD Leganés (LaLiga);

  • Elche CF (Segunda División);

  • FC Barcelona (LaLiga);

  • Getafe CF (LaLiga);

  • Ourense CF (Primera Federación/Spanish third division);

  • Pontevedra CF (Segunda Federación/Spanish fourth division);

  • Rayo Vallecano (LaLiga);

  • Real Betis (LaLiga);

  • Real Madrid (LaLiga);

  • Real Sociedad (LaLiga);

  • UD Almería (Segunda División); and

  • Valencia CF (LaLiga).

This year, our prediction to win the 2024-25 Copa del Rey will go to Real Madrid. We believe they will become winners once again after winning the competition’s title in 2022-23; they defeated CA Osasuna by a 2-1 score in that edition’s final. Their round of 16 home matchup against mid-table LaLiga club Celta Vigo is arguably the second-most lopsided fixture among those that feature potential title contenders: Barcelona (home vs Real Betis), Atlético Madrid (away vs Elche), 2023-24 Copa del Rey winners Athletic Club (home vs Osasuna) and Real Sociedad (home vs Rayo Vallecano).

Although the semifinal matchups will be confirmed via a draw and not a fixed bracket, Madrid remain the team with the best talent and depth in this competition. Although Barcelona’s 31 Copa del Rey titles represent the most said titles for any club, Madrid can also rely on their Copa del Rey championship experience from their run in 2022-23, as well as on their elite playing style and proven reliability to score important goals in the matches’ final minutes, which won them the 2023-24 UCL title.

Our two dark horses to win the 2024-25 edition of the Copa del Rey are Barcelona and Athletic Club. Both clubs possess enough talent and defensive prowess to defeat any of the remaining clubs and win silverware; Athletic Club won the 2023-24 edition of this competition, whereas Barcelona hoisted the Supercopa de España after routing Real Madrid by a 5-2 score on January 12, 2025. Both clubs can also count on extensive top-level experience after spending several years competing for positions in European competitions — UCL and UEL — in the past years. However, Atlético also possess all of the aforementioned elements, and given their rapid ascension to the top of the 2024-25 LaLiga table, they could cause a serious surprise in this year’s Copa del Rey!

Super Cup Competitions

🇫🇷 Trophée des Champions:

  • Paris Saint-Germain = confirmed winners on Sunday, January 5

🇮🇹 Supercoppa Italiana:

  • Inter Milan (On January 6, AC Milan defeated Inter Milan 3-2 in the Supercoppa Italiana)

🇪🇸 Supercopa de España:

  • Real Madrid (On January 13, FC Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 5-2 in the Supercopa de España)

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇩🇪 FA Community Shield and DfL-Supercup:

  • N/A; participating clubs are only to be confirmed at the end of the 2024-25 season.

Anthony Tazbaz
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