The 2021/22 Champions League season is really starting to hot up.
The group stages can often feel like a formality as Europe's biggest clubs ease themselves into the competition, but we're now reaching the do-or-die games to see exactly who will progress.
Besides, in a season where debutants FC Sheriff Tiraspol scored a 2-1 win over Real Madrid, you know that anything and everything can happen, so even the big guns can't rest on their laurels.
2021/22 Champions League
That being said, now that we're four games into the competition proper, we can take a closer look at the clubs who will start dreaming of lifting 'Big Ears' by way of qualifying for the knockout rounds.
Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Juventus and Ajax have become the first four clubs to book themselves a place in the round of 16 with the likes of Real and Chelsea almost certain to join them very soon.
As such, those wild and ambitious predictions that we made ahead of the season can start to evolve into informed and educations forecasts as to which club might lift the trophy in Saint Petersburg.
Liverpool 2-0 Atletico Madrid Reaction (Football Terrace)
Who will win in St. Petersburg?
However, while we don't doubt that you, dear reader, are the second coming of Nostradamus, we're inclined to think that there are better predicative methods for the Champions League season.
No, we're not talking about tea leaves, bookies' odds or dare we suggest supercomputers but rather, we're looking at the expert data analysts over at fivethirtyeight.com.
Using a complex predicative algorithm, the website's data gurus forecast everything from politics and sciences, but it's the latest developments to their Champions League model that interests us.
Every club ranked by chances of winning
And it's fair to say that the results are pretty interesting with Liverpool firmly in the race for European glory as the third-most fancied team in the wake of back-to-back wins over Atletico Madrid.
But who could possibly top a Reds side that has made the 'Group of Death' look like a walk in the park? Well, you can find out down below by watching how all 32 clubs shape up down below:
32. Besiktas - 0% chance of winning
31. Malmo - 0%
30. RB Leipzig - 0%
29. Dynamo Kiev - <1%
28. Sheriff Tiraspol - <1%
27. Club Brugge - <1%
26. Zenit St. Petersburg - <1%
25. Young Boys - <1%
24. Shakhtar Donetsk - <1%
23. AC Milan - <1%
22. Lille - <1%
21. Sporting Lisbon - <1%
20. Sevilla - <1%
19. Wolfsburg - <1%
18. Benfica - <1%
17. Atalanta - <1%
16. Villarreal - <1%
15. FC Porto - <1%
14. Red Bull Salzburg - 1%
13. Borussia Dortmund - 1%
12. Juventus - 1%
11. Atletico Madrid - 2%
10. Manchester United - 2%
9. Barcelona - 2%
8. Inter Milan - 3%
7. Paris Saint-Germain - 3%
6. Real Madrid - 4%
5. Chelsea - 9%
4. Ajax - 10%
3. Liverpool - 14%
2. Manchester City - 19%
1. Bayern Munich - 25%
Champions League 2021/22: Fixtures, Draw, Results, Odds, Scores And Everything You Need To Know
Bayern Munich top the charts
Julian Nagelsmann's Bayern Munich truly are a force to be reckoned with.
Not only are the Bavarians one of the four teams to have qualified for the round of 16, but they've done so with a frankly outrageous record of 3-0, 5-0, 4-0 and 5-1 triumphs. That's just alien.
As such, even Manchester City and Liverpool fans who are utterly convinced that they team will win the Champions League this season can have a little sympathy with the model's thought process.
Beyond that, Manchester United will have to keep their fingers crossed for a miracle with just a 2% chance of going all the way, while Paris Saint-Germain aren't faring much better on 3%.
But as we all know, everything can happen in the Champions League and you just know that at least one major upset will send shockwaves through the competition between now and May.
