UEFA Champions League 2025/26: Matchday 7 Preview and Predictions
The UEFA Champions League returns with Matchday 7 of its 2025/26 edition after a break of more than a month. Yet again, we will witness some mouthwatering encounters in Europe’s elite competition.
With Sporting facing PSG, Liverpool travelling to Marseille, and Arsenal visiting San Siro to face Inter Milan, this week is bringing endless European action. With the race for automatic Round of 16 and play-off qualification heating up, fans are in for a treat going into the final two Matchdays of this season’s league phase.
Here, we present our preview and predictions for all matches of Matchday 7 of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League.
Kairat vs Club Brugge
Neither side has been in the best of form. While Kairat have lost their last three encounters across all competitions and are without a win in their last five games, Club Brugge have been marginally better, having lost their last two league games but won two and drawn one from their last five.
As for personnel availability, Kairat will miss Azamat Tuyakbaev and Dastan Satpaev due to injuries, while Club Brugge have Lynnt Audoor and goalkeeper Simon Mignolet doubtful for this game with muscle injuries.
Lying bottom of the league phase table with no wins and five losses, Kairat are most certainly going to be knocked out of the tournament, hence they’ll want to win their last home game to at least end their debut Champions League campaign with one home win and on a high note.
As for Club Brugge, they are not very far off and are 31st in the table, but if they win their last two games, they may have an outside chance to qualify for the play-off tie. Hence, this is a must-win game for the Belgian outfit, and one they should win given their on-paper superiority.
Club Brugge’s defence has been quite poor, though, having conceded in all Champions League games thus far, so they could concede a goal here as well. That said, they have enough firepower up front to take all three points from this game and keep their knockout hopes alive.
Score Prediction: Kairat Almaty 1–2 Club Brugge
Bodø/Glimt vs Manchester City
After their disappointing loss in the Manchester derby this weekend, Man City will want to get back to winning ways in the Champions League. The Cityzens haven’t won any of their last four Premier League games, with their only wins arriving in the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup. They’ve done well in the Champions League, however, and are on course for a top-eight finish.
As for the hosts, Bodø are placed a lowly 32nd in the league phase table, looking less likely to qualify for even the play-offs. That said, their recent form hasn’t been poor, and they’ve managed to win three games, lost one, and drawn one in their last five encounters.
From an injury perspective, the Norwegian heavyweights are far better placed than City and have a fully fit squad. In contrast, City are missing key defensive players in John Stones, Joško Gvardiol, and Ruben Dias, with Savinho, Oscar Bobb, and Mateo Kovacic also out.
If we look at the two sides, irrespective of form, and despite their injury problems, Man City are the far superior team in this match-up. It will be difficult for the hosts to contain the visitors’ front line. Although City do have defensive frailties, they should bag the three points in this tough away fixture.
Score Prediction: Bodø 1–3 Man City
Villarreal vs Ajax
Both teams have shown inconsistent form this season. Villarreal have won two games and lost three from their last five games, with their most recent game resulting in a loss to Real Betis. Their last Champions League game also ended in defeat to Copenhagen at home.
Ajax, meanwhile, have been equally abysmal and are only one place above Villarreal in the league phase table, though they won their last fixture in the competition against Qarabag. Their defensive issues have been apparent, and they conceded six goals to Alkmaar in the Eredivisie recently, having also conceded five goals against Chelsea in the Champions League.
Injury-wise, the Yellow Submarine will not be missing many players, with only Pau Cabanes and Willy Kambwala on the sidelines, while Ajax will be without Wout Weghorst, Steven Berghuis, and Takehiro Tomiyasu for this game.
This is a difficult game to call, as both teams have been inconsistent and leaking goals. However, Ajax have been far more open at the back and will be playing away from home against a decent side. This is going to be an open game, in which we believe the hosts have the edge to grab all three points.
Score Prediction: Villarreal 3–2 Ajax
Tottenham Hotspur vs Borussia Dortmund
Both Dortmund and Spurs have done fairly well in the Champions League with three wins, two draws, and a solitary loss, but their recent form is anything but similar.
Spurs have been abysmal. Their previous game in the Premier League ended in a loss to 17th-placed West Ham at home. The Lilywhites are also without a win in their last five fixtures. To pile more pressure on head coach Thomas Frank, Spurs were also knocked out of the FA Cup by Aston Villa last week. In contrast, Dortmund have been unbeaten in their last five games with three wins and two draws.
Tottenham’s injury woes haven’t helped their cause either. James Maddison, Rodrigo Bentancur, and Mohammed Kudus are out for the long term, with Ben Davies, Richarlison, and Dejan Kulusevski also on the sidelines. For BVB, Marcel Sabitzer and Aarón Anselmino will be out of action in this fixture.
Spurs’ home form in the Champions League has resulted in three wins, so it’s not going to be an easy outing for Dortmund despite the hosts’ dismal form. That said, the German Bundesliga heavyweights possess superb attacking threat through Serhou Guirassy, Karim Adeyemi, and Julian Brandt. With Spurs also missing key players in Kudus and Richarlison, their goal-scoring options are limited, though Dortmund’s defence can still be exposed; an entertaining draw is on the cards here.
Score Prediction: Spurs 1–1 BVB
Olympiacos vs Bayer Leverkusen
With only one league phase game to go after this fixture, Olympiacos will be looking to win at home against a tough opposition and try to grab a play-off spot next week. Their previous encounter in the Champions League resulted in a narrow win against Kairat.
As for Leverkusen, they have lost a bit of momentum, having suffered two consecutive losses in the Bundesliga after two wins. Their last Champions League outing resulted in a draw at home against Newcastle United.
Injuries have also troubled the German side, who are missing a host of key players. Mark Flekken, Nathan Tella, Axel Tape, Edmond Tapsoba, Exequiel Palacios, and Eliesse Ben Seghir will all be on the sidelines for this fixture. On the other hand, Olympiacos have been rather fortunate with injuries and only have Alexandros Paschalakis unavailable for this game.
With a number of key players missing, Leverkusen will field a weakened side. That could be a problem for Die Werkself, as Olympiacos are no pushovers, which they proved recently against Real Madrid. Given that they’re also playing on home turf, Olympiacos hold a narrow edge for us in this one.
Score Prediction: Olympiacos 2–1 Bayer 04
Sporting vs Paris Saint-Germain
Both teams have similar form in their last five games. While Sporting’s only loss in that time arrived in the Taça da Liga semi-finals against Vitória, PSG’s only defeat came in the Coupe de France against local rivals Paris FC. In their previous Champions League game, Sporting suffered a 3–1 defeat away at Bayern Munich, while the defending champions played out a dour goalless draw away at Athletic Club.
Sporting’s injury list comprises key players: Nuno Santos, Ousmane Diomande, Geovany Quenda, and Pedro Gonçalves. Their opponents, meanwhile, will miss Lucas Hernández through suspension, while João Neves, Lee Kang-in, Matvey Safonov, and Quentin Ndjantou are injured.
Even though Sporting are playing at home in this game, PSG are one of the most difficult opponents to defend against given their world-class attackers and midfielders in Ousmane Dembélé, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Vitinha, and Fabián Ruiz, coached by the highly experienced and decorated Luis Enrique.
Their last Champions League game might have ended in a draw, but with most of their first XI available for this one, PSG are our clear favourites to bag all three points in this fixture.
Score Prediction: Sporting 0-2 PSG
Inter Milan vs Arsenal
This is one of the most awaited fixtures of Matchday 7 – a clash between European heavyweights Inter and Arsenal at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.
Arsenal is the only team in the Champions League this season who has won every single game so far and are currently top of the league phase table in the UCL. Both teams are the league leaders in their respective leagues as well though the Gunners have a comfortable seven-point gap in the Premier League while Inter only has a three-point lead in the Serie A. Both teams are unbeaten in their last five with Inter winning four and drawing one while Arsenal has three wins and two draws.
Inter has a fair few out with injuries to Josep Martinez, Raffaele Di Gennaro, Tomas Palacios, Denzel Dumfries and Hakan Calanoglu. Arsenal has Piero Hincapie and Max Dowman on the sidelines with most of their squad recovered and fit.
This isn’t a must-win game for Arsenal as they are almost certain of automatic qualification but for their opponent, three points could be absolutely massive as they have lost their last two Champions League encounters and are desperate for a win. Though Inter is playing at home, the North London outfit possesses the best defence in Europe with genuine attacking threat upfront in form of Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze, Gabriel Martinelli and Viktor Gyokeres. With both teams relying on maintaining a solid defensive structure, this could be a cagey affair, similar to the Inter vs Liverpool game. Considering Arsenal’s exceptional quality on set-pieces, this game could result in the English club departing the San Siro with a narrow win.
Score Prediction: Inter 0–1 Arsenal
Real Madrid vs Monaco
European giants Real Madrid will be up against French Ligue 1 club Monaco at the Santiago Bernabéu in the Champions League this midweek.
With former Real Madrid player Alvaro Arbeloa replacing Xabi Alonso as the head coach, Real Madrid started their first game poorly, getting knocked out by second division side Albacete in the Copa del Rey. However, they recovered their form in the next game, defeating Levante comfortably in LaLiga. Monaco on the other hand have been highly inconsistent and are desperately struggling for form. Their last five games have produced three losses and two wins for the Monegasque club. Real Madrid’s previous Champions League encounter resulted in a defeat against Manchester City while Monaco defeated Galatasaray in their fixture.
Real Madrid will miss the services of Eder Militao, Andriy Lunin, Ferland Mendy and Trent Alexander Arnold for this game. Monaco on the other hand has an injury crisis with Christian Mawissa, Lucas Hardecky, Lucas Michal and Paul Pogba out with short-term injuries while Takumi Minamino and Mohammed Salisu are unfortunately out for the season with ACL injuries.
The European giants have a far superior and experienced squad as compared to Monaco and playing at home, Los Blancos are the undeniable favourites. With Monaco’s injury issues, they will travel to Madrid with a weakened team, making it even more difficult to grab a positive result from this game. Therefore, my prediction for this fixture would be a comfortable Real Madrid win.
Score Prediction: Real Madrid 2–0 Monaco
Copenhagen vs Napoli
Danish club Copenhagen will clash with Italian side Napoli in this Matchday 7 Champions League fixture.
Copenhagen defeated Villarreal away from home in their last Champions League fixture in a thrilling affair, going on to win their next two league games but since then, they have dropped points, drawing two consecutive games. Napoli suffered defeat to Benfica in their last Champions League game but has been unbeaten in their last five with three draws and two wins. Though the Italian club has been poor in the Champions League when playing away from home.
The Neapolitan club also has major injury concerns with about seven players injured. Kevin de Bruyne, Andre-Frank Anguissa, Billy Gilmour, Alex Meret, Romelu Lukaku, Eljif Elmas, and Matteo Politano will all be unavailable for this game. Copenhagen will miss Rodrigo Huescas and Magnus Mattson for this game.
Copenhagen have surprised a lot of teams in the Champions League this season by gaining important points from tough encounters and are currently placed in the 24th position and very much with a chance of making the knockout play-offs round. Astonishingly, Napoli are placed just a position above them in the table, not playing up to their usual standards this season and would also need to win in order to secure playoff qualification. Napoli’s inability to win away games could be a genuine concern and based on their previous results, Copenhagen can hardly be taken for granted . Having said this, I still believe Napoli can bag the three points from this game as they possess match-winning players in their ranks.
Score Prediction: Copenhagen 1–2 Napoli
