Football fans across the globe could be in for a real thriller on Saturday evening when Real Madrid and Liverpool take on each other in the Champions League final at NSK Olimpijs’kyj. The clash promises a true spectacle knowing that both sides have been thriving in the final third ever since the start of the season being rather fragile at the back at the same time.
Real Madrid chase the record and unprecedented hat-trick of Champions League silverwares in order to cement their status as the best side in the history of the competition. Zinedine Zidane’s outfit had had a generally dismal campaign in domestic league where they gave up the title contest way too early in the season. Nevertheless, the huge deficit to fierce rivals Barcelona could be forgotten with the new UCL trophy and a win over Liverpool in the huge final on Saturday.
Jurgen Klopp has reasons to be satisfied with the huge rise his men showed this season (compared to the last term) and the Champions League final came just as a reward for the spectacular campaign the Reds’ attacking trio has had this year.
Real Madrid vs Liverpool: Head-to-head
Sides have two wins each coming into their fifth head to head encounter.Liverpool won 5-0 on aggregate in the last 16 round of the same competition nine years ago.Madrid got the revenge in the group stage of the 2014/15 campaign when they won both ties against Liverpool (4-0 goal difference in the process).
Real Madrid vs Liverpool: Prediction
The defending champions have to be considered favourites here given they’ve been clinical in big matches over the course of history. They have an amazing record of 12-3 in the UCL finals. Moving forward, the team led by the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric & company has the winning mentality which might paly a big role here.
After all, Los Blancos proved their strength en route to Kyiv by eliminating the likes of PSG, Juventus and Bayern Munich in the knockout stage.Liverpool will rely heavily on the attacking trio and hope for Mohamed Salah’s magical moments on inspiration like ones the Egyptian King had in home ties against Manchester City and Roma in past two rounds.The lack of meticulousness at the back might, however, be a huge issue for both sides. Zidane’s men kept just one clean sheet in last 11 competitive games and they conceded two or more goals in four of last five outings across competitions. They’ll be up against a deadly attacking trio Firmino, Salah and Mane who bagged 31 goals between them so far in the competition.Based on everything written above, the Over 2.5 goals FT & BTTS looks to be the banker bet at 1.66. The value is with Real Madrid to win & BTTS at 3.40, while competition’s top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo (15 goals so far) is our top suggestion for the anytime goalscorer bet at the odds of 1.66.