Pick and Prediction for Liverpool vs. Real Madrid on Saturday, May 28

Saturday, May 28 – that’s when we’ll find out which team will become the new ruler of European soccer. Liverpool and Real Madrid lock horns in the battle for the 2022 UEFA Champions League title.

It wouldn’t be an overstatement to call these two teams true giants of soccer. These clubs have 19 UCL titles between them, with Real Madrid being the most successful team in the history of European soccer with 13 trophies in the collection. Four of those titles Los Blancos won in the past 10 years.

Liverpool too has an impressive trophy cupboard with six titles. However, the Merseyside Reds won only one of those since the competition was renamed the Champions League in 1993. The UCL title win in question happened three years ago.

Most of the players from Liverpool’s UCL-winning generation are still on the roster. In fact, only one player who played in the final in 2019 is no longer in the club.

Knowing that these guys know how to win the Champions League is one of the main reasons why top soccer bookmakers see Liverpool as the betting favorite. The big question is whether Real Madrid can upset the odds? Los Blancos did it many times this season – against PSG, Chelsea, and Manchester City.

To see what I think, make sure to check out my Champions League final pick. But before that, let’s see what oddsmakers have to say about Saturday’s game.

If you like the odds you see above, head over to Betway as that might be the very best online sportsbook for Champions League betting. The prices are good whichever outcome you choose.

Plus, I also love the fact that the odds on ‘over/under 2.5 goals’ are also very attractive. You’ll learn why I love this betting market later on in my Liverpool vs. Real Madrid prediction.

With just one loss in 2022, Liverpool has the best record of all the teams from the ‘Big Five’ leagues. This team’s record since New Year’s Day is 26-7-1. During their surge, the Reds won two major trophies – the Carabao Cup and FA Cup.

Can they add a third to the list? Oddsmakers sure think so, one of the reasons being the fact that all of Liverpool’s key men should be 100% fit and ready for the big game. This includes both Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk who had some fitness issues a week ago.

We’re not done yet. pic.twitter.com/IiBuC0d9WN

— Mohamed Salah (@MoSalah) May 23, 2022

In Liverpool’s final Premier League game of the season, van Dijk stayed on the bench the whole time. Salah, on the other hand, started the game from the bench only to come on the pitch in the second half and score one goal. It was his 23rd EPL goal of the season, which made him the shared top-scorer for the 2021-22 campaign.

Sure, it’s never a major surprise when Real Madrid wins in the Champions League. After all, this is the most successful soccer club in the world. However, truth is that online bookmakers thought of Los Blancos as underdogs in several games in the UCL playoffs.

In fact, Real Madrid was expected to end its Champions League journey in the first round of the knockout phase. Los Blancos entered the PSG doubleheader as 2.00 underdogs. The odds moved further against them when they lost the first game 1-0.

But then, Karim Benzema stole the show. Real Madrid’s no.9 scored a hat-trick in the rematch, practically taking his team to the next stage of the competition. That wasn’t the end of Benzema’s brilliance – he scored another hat-trick in the following game.

Karim Benzema's 15 goals this season 😎@Benzema | #UCLfinal pic.twitter.com/rWsdebzIhc

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) May 25, 2022

It happened in London where Real Madrid beat Chelsea – the winner of the last year’s Champions League – with the final score being 3-1. The English team tried to fight back in the rematch, but they couldn’t do enough to stay in the UCL.

Next came the semifinal with Manchester City. After losing 4-3 in England (with Benzema scoring twice), Los Blancos weren’t expected to do much in the rematch.

In fact, throughout the game, it seemed the bookmakers were right to think of them as underdogs – Manchester City had a 1-0 lead until the 90^th minute. What happened next was that Rodrygo scored two goals in two minutes, taking the game the extra time.

The Brazilian forward showed the world that Real Madrid is not a one-man army. Still, this game too didn’t go without Benzema getting in the spotlight – he was the one to score a penalty in the 95^th minute, which was enough for his team to book the ticket to the UCL final.

In his betting guide for the 2022 UCL final, my colleague Ben Morris predicts a win for Liverpool. I can only say I agree – Jurgen Klopp’s men are the best bunch in the soccer universe in 2022 in my opinion.

Still, knowing that betting against Real Madrid has proved to be a bad decision numerous times this season, maybe it would be best to stay away from the match-winner market. Instead, I’d recommend focusing on goal-based wagers.

With Mohamed Salah on one and Karim Benzema on the other side, I just can’t see a scenario in which the UCL final would finish without goals. In fact, I’m confident we will see a lot of goals on Sunday, three seems like a bare minimum.