Sure Prediction For Today, Saturday 28th May 2022

Liverpool and Real Madrid face off in Paris on Saturday as the two European giants meet in the final of the Champions League for the second time in five years.

Real emerged victorious when the two sides clashed at this stage of the competition back in 2018, with Gareth Bale scoring twice for the Spanish outfit in a 3-1 victory.

Los Blancos claimed a 3-1 aggregate win over Liverpool in the quarter-finals last season but they go into the game as the underdogs, which is perhaps unsurprising given the Reds’ form over the last few months.

Liverpool may have fallen short in their quadruple bid despite beating Wolves 3-1 in the final round of Premier League fixtures but they still have the chance to secure a treble, and they go into the game unbeaten in their last 18 games – winning 15 of those.

Real’s only injury concern is Eden Hazard, who is rated as a doubt at this stage, while Liverpool has midfield worries as Thiago and Fabinho are considered doubtful, and forward Divock Origi is definitely missing.

Player-for-player it is hard to argue against Liverpool being the better team in this match-up but this Real side simply don’t know when they are beaten. The La Liga champions have been behind at some stage but fought back to win in all of the previous knockout rounds.

There have been at least three goals scored in four of Liverpool’s last six games and in seven of Real’s last 10. The goals have eased off for the Spanish outfit of late and only one of their last four games has gone over 2.5 goals – but that happened after they had claimed the La Liga crown, and in the 12 games prior to that four-game streak 11 produced three or more goals.

Since the Champions League knockout stages began, five of Real’s six games have seen over three goals and over 3.5 goals would have been a winning bet in all five of those clashes, while three of Liverpool’s last four European fixtures have produced at least three goals.

The last six Champions League finals have been decided in 90 minutes but this looks like a clash that could require extra time and potentially even penalties. I would argue that Liverpool are the better team, but they have had a tough run to this point and Los Merengues have been able to ease off after claiming the Spanish title with games to spare.

The Anfield outfit played three games in six days up until Sunday and their FA Cup final meeting with Chelsea went to a penalty shoot-out. In contrast, Real’s last game was a 0-0 draw with Real Betis on Friday night so they have had extra time to recover and refocus ahead of this European showpiece.

Los Blancos do have three defeats in their last 13 games but one of those defeats was essentially a victory as it was the second leg of their quarter-final with Chelsea, where they did enough to progress despite losing. They also lost at Manchester City and suffered a Madrid derby defeat after they had already won the La Liga crown.

As mentioned earlier, Liverpool are unbeaten in 18 games and something has to give in the final but it may not be decided in normal time and a draw stands out as Liverpool has come up short in some big games of late despite their success. Jurgen Klopp’s men were held to a 2-2 draw at Manchester City in a key Premier League title clash and needed penalties in the FA Cup final.

There are plenty of players on both teams who look candidates for an anytime goal and a case could be made for the likes of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Luis Diaz, Rodrygo, Vinicius Junior, and a number of others quite easily but I’m opting for Karim Benzema as my top choice.

The Frenchman has scored what proved to be the winning goals in all of Real’s knockout ties in this competition and has enjoyed his best campaign to date in Europe this season with 15 goals in 11 games.

The evergreen forward also managed his best La Liga campaign in terms of goals with 27 and he has scored in each of his last five Champions League games – hitting 10 goals in total including two hat-tricks – so at odds against an anytime strike for Benzema has to be the best goalscorer bet for Saturday’s final.