The 2019 UEFA Champions League Final is the final match for the 64th season Champions League. It will be held on June 1, 2019 at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid, Spain and will be contested by English sides Tottenham and Liverpool.
The Spurs are making their first ever European Cup Final while the Reds will be playing in their second straight UEFA Champions League Final and their ninth overall. This will also be the 7th Champions League final which will feature two teams from the same association, the second All-English final since 2008 and the first time since 2013 where no Spanish team is playing in the final.
Let’s take a look at how the teams got here:
Tottenham was bracketed in the second-most difficult group in the Premier League with Barcelona, Serie A third placer Milan and Eredivisie 2nd placer PSV Eindhoven. The Spurs battered then Bundesliga fist-placer Borussia Dortmund, who were a team on the rise. In the quarterfinals, they “only” beat the best team in the world in Manchester City. Then in the semis, Tottenham erased a 3-0 aggregate deficit in the final 45 minutes of leg 2 to down the presumptive champs of the Eredivisie.
Liverpool emerged from the “Group of Death” that included Napoli and Paris Saint-Germain. After that, they went on to defeat Bundesliga winners Bayern Munich in the round of 16. The Reds then bested Primera champs Porto in the quarterfinals before overcoming a 3-0 aggregate deficit while beating La Liga champions Barcelona in this past weekend’s semifinals. The Reds are here while competing in the toughest Premier League title race ever. They have not lost domestically since January 3, 2019 and will finish with the third-highest point total in the history of English Football.
This will be the 171st time that Liverpool and Tottenham will face each other in a competitive meeting. Liverpool leads the all-time series with 79-48 with the teams figuring in a draw in the other 42 meetings. These teams have met twice during the 2018-19 Premier League and Liverpool won 2-1 on both occasions. They have met once before in a European tie, at the semifinals of the 1972-73 UEFA Cup. Liverpool won the first leg 1-0 while Tottenham won the second meeting 2-1 although the Reds advanced to the final on away goals. Domestically, these two sides have met once in a cup final with Liverpool beating Tottenham 3-1 in extra time at the 1982 Football League Cup Final.
Liverpool beat Tottenham twice when they played in the Premier League and are a good 24 points ahead of them in the domestic standings. The Reds are the much stronger team statistically but the Spurs have proved their worth. Klopp vs Pochettino will engage in a battle of two brilliant minds and these are two teams which truly deserve to be in this game.
But I still think that Liverpool are soccer betting favorites for a reason: They have the better team here. Their goals from their last four games have come from a variety of sources: Origi, Wijnaldum, Mane, Salah, Firmino, and Keita. On the other hand, Tottenham have relied heavily on Son and Moura for scoring. That said, Klopp has the deeper rotation of players to rely on and these players who have proven their values on the pitch this year.
Given the rest they have, Liverpool will have Mo Salah back and will likely have a fully healthy team. I believe that this is Liverpool’s year because they have the best manager and the best crop of players who are best-equipped to help the Reds lift the Cup. This was supposed to be theirs anyway, last season. Prediction: Liverpool
We’ve seen these teams plays against each other many times in the past so we know what to expect from them already. I think this will be a close game and I don’t see either team pulling away with a big lead. But just as they’ve done all-season long, Liverpool is going to grind out a win here with no extra time or penalties needed. Prediction: Liverpool in 90 minutes
| Tottenham 1-0 +1100 | Liverpool 1-0 +700 |
| Tottenham 2-0 +2000 | Liverpool 2-0 +850 |
| Tottenham 2-1 +1200 | Liverpool 2-1 +750 |
| Tottenham 3-0 +4000 | Liverpool 3-0 +1600 |
| Tottenham 3-1 +2800 | Liverpool 3-1 +1400 |
| Tottenham 3-2 +3300 | Liverpool 3-2 +3200 |
| Tottenham 4-0 +10000 | Liverpool 4-0 +3300 |
| Tottenham 4-1 +6600 | Liverpool 4-1 +3300 |
| Tottenham 4-2 +8000 | Liverpool 4-2 +4000 |
| Tottenham 4-3 +12500 | Liverpool 4-3 +8000 |
| Tottenham 5-0 +35000 | Liverpool 5-0 +6600 |
| Tottenham 5-1 +20000 | Liverpool 5-1 +6600 |
| Tottenham 5-2 +25000 | Liverpool 5-2 +10000 |
| Tottenham 5-3 +50000 | Liverpool 5-3 +20000 |
| Draw 1-1 +1000 | Liverpool 6-0 +20000 |
| Draw 2-2 +550 | Liverpool 6-1 +15000 |
| Draw 3-3 +1200 | Liverpool 6-2 +30000 |
| Draw 4-4 +4000 |
This game shouldn’t be much different from their first two encounters this year. These teams will feel each other out early and Liverpool will draw blood in the first half. Pochettino is going to make the right adjustments and he will get the Spurs going in the second half. With the teams settling down, I expect both sides to exchange goals early before this becomes a chess match. A late goal will give Liverpool a 3-1 lead and ensure the Reds’ victory. Prediction: Liverpool 3-1
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