Champions League Betting Tips: Our Final Predictions

Champions League Final Tips:

• Liverpool To Win at Evens with Betfair
• First half handicap draw (-1) at 5/2 with Ladbrokes
• Both teams to score and over 2.5 goals at 20/21 with bet365

Mohamed Salah got his wish in the end. After his side’s 3-2 victory over Villarreal, the Liverpool forward told BT Sport that he would rather face Real Madrid than Manchester City in the Champions League final.

An incredible comeback - which betting sites didn’t see coming - by Carlo Ancelotti’s side at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in their semi-final sent Madrid through to the Paris showpiece in the most dramatic fashion possible.

UK bookmakers have Liverpool as strong favourites, yet neither Jurgen Klopp nor Ancelotti will expect an easy game.

Liverpool are six-time European champions, while Madrid have hoisted the famous trophy aloft on 13 occasions. One thing is for sure: we should be in for a treat on Saturday.

Liverpool Still In The Hunt For An Unprecedented Treble

Whatever happens from here, Liverpool have made history this season. No other English team has ever reached the final of the Champions League, the FA Cup and the League Cup in the same season.

The Reds brought the Premier League title race right down to the final minutes, but a stellar comeback from Man City blocked their quadruple dreams. But the League Cup and FA Cup are already safely in the trophy cabinet, and one more piece of silverware may yet end up there this month.

This treble would still be an outstanding achievement though, and it would draw parallels to Manchester United’s treble winners of 1998/99 - albeit, with the League Cup subbed in for the Premier League.

There is still one hurdle in the way though, Klopp’s side still have to face the La Liga winners in the Champions League final.

Liverpool, in truth, have not had the toughest path to Paris. They eliminated an out-of-form Inter in the round of 16, before knocking out Benfica in the last eight.

The Reds did not have everything their own way against Villarreal in the semi-finals - at half-time of the second leg the aggregate score was level - but the Yellow Submarine were patently the weakest team left in the competition.

Still, it is difficult to argue against the contention that Liverpool are one of the two strongest sides in Europe right now. If anything, they have got better as the season has worn on.

Jurgen Klopp’s men are peaking at just the right time and they now have the squad depth to compete on several fronts. The Reds deserve to be favourites on football betting sites at the Stade de France.

Real Madrid Feel They Have Destiny On Their Side

In each of their knockout round ties, Real Madrid have been on the brink of elimination. For four-fifths of their last-16 clash with Paris Saint-Germain, Ancelotti’s men were second best.

Yet a 30-minute flurry – admittedly aided by PSG’s extraordinary mental collapse – saw Karim Benzema score three times to turn the contest on its head.

Madrid were in pole position to advance at the midway point of their quarter-final against Chelsea.

But at the Bernabeu the Blues overturned a 3-1 deficit from the first leg, as goals from Mason Mount, Antonio Rudiger and Timo Werner gave them an aggregate advantage with 15 minutes of regulation time remaining. Once again though, Madrid dug deep and found a way to turn the game in their favour.

The Spanish champions saved their most astonishing comeback for the semi-finals. Manchester City led for 178 of the 180 minutes of the tie, but Rodrygo’s late double in the second leg forced extra time, from where there was only ever going to be one winner.

There is something about Madrid and this competition. It is possible to argue that each of PSG, Chelsea and City played better than los Blancos over two legs, yet Ancelotti’s charges found a way to get past all of them.

Madrid will feel they have destiny on their side, and their magnificent mental strength means they can never be written off. The contrasting endings to the season at the top of La Liga and the Premier League might also work in their favour.

Real wrapped up their league fixtures in Spain on May 20, and they failed to make it through to the Copa del Rey final. Ancelotti could therefore begin his preparations for the Champions League final over a week before the game.

Liverpool, by contrast, had five huge fixtures to fulfil before May 28, as they sought to win the FA Cup (successfully) and the Premier League (unsuccessfully) before turning their attention back to Europe.

In One-Off Game Liverpool Could Have The Advantage

If you are looking at Champions League betting offers, in a tactical sense, it is not too difficult to predict how the final will play out.

We can expect Liverpool to start quickly and play on the front foot, controlling possession and looking to regain it quickly whenever it changes hands.

Madrid, on the other hand, will be content to stand off Liverpool in the early stages and wait for the right moments to strike.

They have a tremendous ability to stay in games and then come to life when it looks like they are dead and buried. That is what makes them such dangerous opponents.

Liverpool have scored the first goal in nine of their 12 Champions League games this term, while Madrid fell behind in all but one of their six knockout matches.

At 5/2 with Ladbrokes, it is worth backing a draw in the first-half handicap (-1) market – which is essentially equivalent to putting money on Liverpool holding a one-goal lead at the interval.

Ultimately, this could be a bridge too far for Madrid. They will not be able to rely on the Bernabeu this time. And although the Spanish side will have had more time to prepare than Liverpool, they will struggle to live with Klopp’s pressing machine.

The Reds, who are available at a Evens in 90 minutes with Betfair, can win their seventh European crown in Paris – the city in which they won third, in 1981, with a 1-0 triumph over Real Madrid.

Do not expect Madrid to give up without a fight, though. They possess plenty of firepower through the likes of Benzema, Rodrygo and Vinicius Junior, so over 2.5 goals and both teams to score looks like good value at 21/20 with bet365.