Real Madrid make the trip to Ukraine looking to further cement their status as the most successful side in Champions League history. They play in their 16th final on Saturday, and with 12 of their 15 ending in victory, they are clearly specialists in the big games. Should they win this they will have won an unprecedented three in a row, but they have opposition used to upsetting the balance of things in Liverpool.
Zinedine Zidane’s side aren’t in the best of shape either to be honest. They threw away a two goal lead on the final day of the La Liga season to make it just one win from their last five competitive matches. One of these was their 2-2 draw against Bayern Munich at the beginning of the month, a result which made it 4-3 on aggregate, to send Real Madrid to the final.
However, these issues in defence will certainly be a worry to the travelling Spaniards. They have conceded at least two goals in four of their last five games, and have only managed one clean sheet in their last 11 competitive matches. Now they come face to face with the most devastating attacking trio in the world. Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, and Sadio Mane have scored 31 goals between them in the Champions League this season, so they will fancy their chances against the fragile Real Madrid back line.
It’s Firmino that we’re most interested in. The Brazilian centre forward has had an excellent season this year, despite being somewhat overshadowed by the heroics of Salah. He has scored 11 Champions League goals, including four in the knockout stages, and at such a good price we like the look of him as our anytime goalscorer predictions.
Liverpool aren’t exactly defensively stalwart either though. They have won just two of their last six competitive games and shipped four to Roma in the second leg of their semi-final tie. In fact, they have conceded nine goals in their last six competitive games, and they haven’t faced a side quite like Real Madrid in that time.
This has all the makings of an absolute classic, and we could be in for a footballing treat on Saturday night to get us salivating for the upcoming World Cup. Liverpool’s front three and Real Madrid’s talisman forward Cristiano Ronaldo have scored 46 goals between them in the Champions League this season. In total, Liverpool and Real Madrid have scored 70 goals in the competition this season, with Liverpool taking 40 of those and Zidane’s men the other 30.
Obviously this, along with both sides’ rather troublesome back lines, means there have been a lot of high scoring affairs. Seven of Real Madrid’s 12 Champions League games this season have seen at least four goals, as have eight of Liverpool’s 14 outings in the competition. Not only that, but five of Real Madrid’s last six games in all competitions, and four of Liverpool’s last six, have also seen four goals or more. This makes an Over 3.5 Goals bet look very good value indeed, so we’re backing that.
In the end though, we expect Real Madrid to triumph. They have won 12 of their 15 European Cup and Champions League final appearances, and led by Cristiano Ronaldo, have won the competition three times in the last four years. Ronaldo has 15 goals in the competition this season and has netted a ridiculous 43 goals in his last 37 games in the competition. He should be able to lead them to yet another trophy, so we’re backing Real Madrid to Win and Both Teams to Score
OUR PREDICTION
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