BT Sport pundit Michael Owen is backing Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City as the three main contenders to win the Champions League this campaign.

After witnessing the Reds ease into the last 16 of the competition after a comfortable 2-0 win over Atletico Madrid, Owen claimed that this year’s winner will almost certainly be an English side and he is backing his former team to go all the way:

“I think the biggest dangers to Liverpool are probably Man City and Chelsea. You look at the Anfield factor, I just can’t get that out of my head. Good luck going there in the second leg of a European tie. They are almost unbeatable at Anfield. You’d have to say that Liverpool are favourites.”

The strength of the three Premier League clubs cannot be disputed. They all have shown themselves to be capable of reaching the final in the past few years.

In contrast, the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona are much weaker than they used to be, so you would think that only Bayern Munich and perhaps Paris Saint-Germain will be able to rival the English teams to lift Europe’s top prize in May.

Liverpool will also be determined to improve on their performances in the tournament over the last two seasons when they have been knocked out at the last 16 and quarter-final stages.