Champions League Final Tip

The Champions League Final is upon us and the bookies have gone mad with ‘request a bet’ options. It’s somewhat overwhelming but we’re selecting Son & Mane to score, and Spurs to win at 33/1 with Skybet.

That may sound improbable, and Liverpool are understandable favourites, but Tottenham can’t help reminding me of the Chelsea team who claimed the trophy in 2012. They certainly weren’t the best team in Europe either, but there seemed to be an inexorable sense of fate about their progress beyond Barcelona in the semi-final and Bayern Munich in their own backyard in the final.

Liverpool will clearly feel that fate is on their side after their own remarkable comeback against Barca at Anfield, but are they destined to be nearly men in 2018-19, despite all that brilliance?

Jurgen Klopp’s brutal record of losing six consecutive finals may just pray on a few minds as well.

In terms of goalscorers, form and big match mentality points me to Son and Mane. The Reds’ striker has enjoyed a fabulous campaign, shared the Premier League Golden Boot and would have won it but for penalties scored by others. He netted in last year’s final and is arguably more clinical than Salah just at the moment.

The Spurs’ Player of the Season had a quiet end to the regular campaign but I wouldn’t doubt his credentials for a moment. He scored a remarkable 3 goals over the 2 CL matches with Man City and he’s a ‘go-to’ man.

All the talk about Kane may help him slip under the radar and he might just prove the match winner.