Liverpool v Real Madrid betting tips: Reds favourites for Champions League glory
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Champions League final preview: Liverpool v Real Madrid betting tips
Liverpool will take on Real Madrid in the Champions League final in Paris at the end of the month having recovered from an awful first half to beat Villarreal in the last four.
An all-English final seemed on the cards when Manchester City led the 13-time champions 2-0 on aggregate in Madrid heading into the final minute but a double from substitute Rodrygo took the game into extra time where Karim Benzema secured another remarkable comeback with a penalty.
The Reds are the 1/2 favourites to win the trophy in a repeat of the 2018 final and evens to get the job done in normal time as we look at the talking points and odds in our Liverpool v Real Madrid betting tips.
Click on the links to see Liverpool’s route to the Champions League final and how they compare with Real Madrid.
Liverpool v Real Madrid form
Liverpool’s hopes of winning all four trophies in the same season ended at the weekend as Manchester City fought back from two goals down with three goals in the last quarter of an hour to beat Aston Villa 3-2 at the Etihad.
The Reds were drawing 1-1 with Wolves when City were trailing so the excitement was building, but they were never leading the table as the champions were already in front by the time Liverpool edged ahead.
Liverpool still had the comfort of beating Chelsea on penalties in both domestic cup finals and they have the chance of adding a third trophy to the cabinet when they take on Real Madrid.
Jurgen Klopp’s side trailed 2-0 at half-time in the second leg against Villarreal, but thanks to some dubious goalkeeping from Geronimo Rulli they went through with a 3-2 win on the night for a 5-2 aggregate victory to become the first team to win all six away games in the Champions League.
We’re the first side ever to win all 6️⃣ away games in a @ChampionsLeague campaign 🤩 pic.twitter.com/Cp5sV7vPhg
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) May 4, 2022
Victory for the Reds would mean they go level with second-placed AC Milan on seven European Cup triumphs, although they would still be six adrift of Spanish champions Real Madrid.
Their group stage was arguably tougher than the knockout phase, yet despite being paired with Atletico Madrid, AC Milan and Porto, they emerged with the maximum 18 points and went on to score at least twice in all but one of their 12 games overall.
🤝 @RealMadrid president Florentino Pérez congratulated the team on reaching the final.#APorLa14 | #RealMadrid pic.twitter.com/mi9flWqeBm
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) May 5, 2022
Real Madrid’s last five matches in the knockout stage involved both teams scoring and at least four goals and that option is available at 15/8, while both teams to score, at least three goals and either team to win – which would have paid out in all of the aforementioned games – is 6/4.
Los Blancos were 20/1 to win this competition at one stage having lost their first home game in the group stage to Moldovan minnows Sheriff Tiraspol, but recovered to finish top of a pool also comprising Inter Milan and Shakhtar Donetsk before the fun really began in a very tough knockout stage.
There, they trailed PSG 1-0 from the first leg in the round of 16 and fell further behind in the return, but a 17-minute second-half hat-trick from Benzema sealed a remarkable win.
In the quarter-finals, the France striker bagged another treble in a 3-1 win at Chelsea, who took a 3-0 lead in the return leg in Madrid only for Rodrygo to level the tie 10 minutes from the end before Benzema won it in extra time.
The boss hopes we can make the most of our experiences in major finals ahead of Saturday's #UCL final.
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) May 24, 2022
Those players combined to pull off an astonishing win against City to reach the final for a fifth time in nine years, all of which they won.
Los Blancos are 12/5 to win inside 90 minutes, 9/2 to win and concede or 14/1 to win from behind as they have done so frequently in the two-legged phase.
In what should be another thriller, both teams to score and over 2.5 goals catches the eye at 19/20 in our Liverpool v Real Madrid betting tips.
An extra-time victory is 9/1 for Liverpool and 14/1 for Real Madrid, while both teams are 11/1 to get the job done on penalties as the Reds did against AC Milan in 2005.
Liverpool v Real Madrid head to head
These decorated clubs are no strangers to each other in European competition and this will be their third meeting in the final.
Left-back Alan Kennedy scored a dramatic 1-0 win in the 1981 showpiece to give the Reds a third title in five years, but four years ago Gareth Bale scored twice in a 3-1 victory in Ukraine to win it for a third successive season and 13th overall.
A positive update from the boss on @Thiago6 and @_fabinhotavares 😁#UCLfinal
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) May 27, 2022
However, their most recent meeting came in last season’s quarter-finals when Liverpool lost 3-1 in Madrid followed by a goalless draw at Anfield a week later.
Liverpool v Real Madrid team news
Klopp provided a positive update on midfielders Thiago Alcantara and Fabinho.
The former appeared a major doubt after being forced out of Sunday’s final Premier League game against Wolves at half-time with an Achilles injury, with the latter back from a hamstring complaint.
“Looks good for both Thiago and Fabinho,” Klopp said. “Fabinho trained completely normal. Thiago trained yesterday with the team, will train today and we will go from there.”
Key centre-back Virgil van Dijk was an unused substitute on Sunday after a knee injury in the FA Cup final the previous weekend but he is expected to start at the Stade de France.
Real Madrid centre-back David Alaba returned to training this week and manager Carlo Ancelotti confirmed the Austrian will “100% start” despite being out for a month.
Gareth Bale has recovered from a back injury and Marcelo returned from a three-week absence with a muscle problem by playing the last 20 minutes of the goalless draw with Real Betis in their last domestic game of the season.
Goalscorer odds
Salah scored six minutes from time against Wolves to ensure he shared the Golden Boot with Tottenham forward Son Heung-min, who scored twice in a 5-0 win at Norwich on the final day of the Premier League season.
The Egyptian had scored in just one of his previous 14 games in all competitons until Sunday, so his odds are 7/2 on breaking the deadlock or 5/4 to find the net.
Full focus turns to Saturday 👊#UCL pic.twitter.com/WbgnA6O0HV
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) May 24, 2022
Sadio Mane has been in much better goalscoring form with nine goals in his last 13 appearances and is 11/2 and 2/1 in the two markets, while Luis Diaz is 13/2 and 23/10.
The Colombia winger is in a battle with Diogo Jota for a starting spot and the Portuguese is 5/1 and 9/5 in the two options.
Benzema‘s incredible season means he is the 10/3 favourite to get the ball rolling and 23/20 to net the opener, while Vinicius Jr can be backed at 5/1 and 15/8.
Rodrygo, whose late heroics as a second-half sub helped pave the way for a spot in the final, is 4/1 to get on the scoresheet again.
Match info
Where: Stade de France, Saint-Denis, Paris
When: 20:00, Saturday 28th May
How to watch: BT Sport
All odds and markets correct as of date of publication
