This Saturday evening, Premier League Champions Manchester City will be attempting to win their first ever Champions League Final in Porto, Portugal. Pep Guardiola’s team have already picked up two pieces of silverware this season and are eager to make it three.
Standing in their way are fellow Premier League side Chelsea in what is the second all-Premier League Final in the space of three years. Thomas Tuchel’s Londoners have been excellent in the competition in recent times and could win their second Champions League trophy with a victory on Saturday night.
With billions of fans expected to tune in across the world to watch the action unfold, it should be a hugely exciting occasion, given added spice that despite their dominance this season, Manchester City have lost on both the last two occasions they have faced Chelsea, both relatively recently too.
Remember, if you fancy a wager on this game then you can enjoy a wide range of pre-match bets,
as well as extensive Live In Play betting options with bet365 Sport.
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Let’s now preview the game in a bit more detail to give you the lowdown on both teams before we give you our tips for the game itself.
READ: A Preview of the 2022 Champions League Final
Champions League Final
Chelsea v Manchester City
- Venue – Estadio do Dragao, Porto
- Date – Saturday 29th May
- Kick Off – 8pm UK Time
- Referee – Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz (Spain)
Chelsea
Taking over from Frank Lampard earlier this season, Tuchel steered Chelsea to a fourth placed finish in the Premier League, as well as an FA Cup Final and Champions League Final.
Playing Squad
- Goalkeepers – Eduoard Mendy, Kepa Arrizabalaga, Willy Caballero
- Defenders – Antonio Rudiger, Marcos Alonso, Andreas Christensen, Kurt Zouma, Reece James, Cesar Azpilicueta, Emerson Palmieri, Ben Chilwell, Thiago Silva
- Midfielders – Jorginho, N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Mason Mount, Hakim Ziyech, Kai Havertz, Billy Gilmour, Christian Pulisic
- Attackers – Timo Werner, Olivier Giroud, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Tammy Abraham
Probable Chelsea XI – (3-4-2-1) – Mendy, Thiago Silva, Antonio Rudiger, Reece James, Cesar Azpilicueta, Ben Chilwell, N’Golo Kante, Jorginho, Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, Timo Werner.
The Road To Porto – Chelsea
Champions League Group Stage Results
- V Sevilla (H) – D 0-0
- V Krasnodar (A) – W 4-0
- V Rennes (H) – W 3-0
- V Rennes (A) – W 2-1
- V Sevilla – (A) – W 4-0
- V Krasnodar (H) – D 1-1
Chelsea topped their group ahead of Sevilla to land one of the seeded spots in the draw for the Round of 16.
Champions League Knockout Stage Results
- Round of 16 – V Atletico Madrid (1-0 Away) (2-0 Home) (3-0 agg)
- Quarterfinals – V FC Porto (2-0 Away) (0-1 Home) (2-1 agg)
- Semifinals – V Real Madrid (1-1 Away) (2-0 Home) (3-1 agg)
Manchester City
In his fifth year in charge of Manchester City, Pep Guardiola has already claimed two pieces of silverware this season with his team, but this is the trophy the club owners and most Manchester City fans would love to have their name on.
Playing Squad
- Goalkeepers – Ederson, Zack Steffen, Scott Carson
- Defenders – Kyle Walker, Nathan Ake, John Stones, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Bernard Mendy, Aymeric Laporte, Joao Cancelo, Eric Garcia, Ruben Dias
- Midfielders – Fernandinho, Ilkay Gundogan, Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden
- Attackers – Ferran Torres, Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, Sergio Aguero, Riyad Mahrez, Liam Delap
Probable Manchester City XI – (4-3-3) – Ederson, Kyle Walker, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte, Rodrigo, Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, Bernardo Silva, Riyadh Mahrez.
The Road To Porto – Manchester City
Champions League Group Stage Results
- V FC Porto (H) – W 3-1
- V Marseille (A) – W 3-0
- V Olympiakos (H) – W 3-0
- V Olympiakos (A) – W 1-0
- V FC Porto (A) – D 0-0
- V Marseille (H) – W 3-0
City made light work of qualifying for the knockout phase of the competition, winning their first four group games conceding just one goal in the process. They topped their group comfortably.
Champions League Knockout Stage Results
- Round of 16 – V Borussia Monchengladbach (2-0 Away) (2-0 Home) (4-0 agg)
- Quarterfinals – V Borussia Dortmund (2-1 Home) (2-1 Away) (4-2 agg)
- Semifinals – V Paris St Germain (2-1 Away) (2-0 Home) (4-1 agg)
Recent Form & Comparison
- Chelsea – LWLWW
- Manchester City – WLWLW
Manchester City finished the Premier League season in 1st place in the table with 86 points from 38 games (+51 goal difference). Chelsea finished 4th in the table with 67 points from their 38 games and with a +22 goal difference.
The teams have met three times already this season. Manchester City won the first game at Stamford Bridge 3-1, but since then Chelsea have won the other two encounters, a 1-0 win at Wembley in the FA Cup Semifinal, followed by a 2-1 win at the Etihad, thanks to an injury time goal from Marcos Alonso.
Chelsea have won both the Champions League (once) and the Europa League (twice) as well as two Cup Winners Cup victories in the now defunct competition. Manchester City’s sole European trophy was a Cup Winners Cup win back in 1970.
What Are Our Tips For The Champions League Final?
If you are going to go on season form, then Manchester City are the clear favourites. They have been the team to beat in the Premier League over the last three quarters of the season and have generally swept aside most of their rivals.
However, the one team that they have not been able to get the better of during their fine late season run has been Chelsea. The Londoners two wins will be a worry for City fans who will wonder whether Thomas Tuchel has the magic ingredients needed to get the better of the City team.
For me though, City have much the better quality of the two teams and I think are more consistent and in truth, I don’t see any team beating them three times in a row.
As such, I am backing Manchester City to land the win here and they are 5/6 to do that with bet365.
For a better odds bet, you could back a Correct Score bet and I feel the odds of both teams scoring here are good, so I am going to go with a 3-1 win for Manchester City, which is a 16/1 shot with bet365 Sport at the moment.
*All odds shown were correct with bet365 Sport as of Wednesday 26th May 2021.
