Bayern v Chelsea: goals a safer bet than picking a winner
Published:Chelsea certainly look the value bet at 7/2 to win the Champions League final against Bayern Munich, but 5/6 may be the better bet for punters that the game sees over 2.5 goals scored.
Although both sides will want to avoid anything sloppy, neither team will want to look around their dressing room after with thoughts that they never really gave the game a go from an attacking perspective.
Looking back over the last 13 finals, eight of them have cleared the handicap, while Bayern do not usually have difficulty scoring on their own patch.
Bayern have only failed to score in one of their last 14 games at the Allianz Arena and of the remaining 13, they have netted at least twice on each occasion.
With their assortment of attacking riches, it is also not hard to expect them to score against Chelsea, especially with John Terry absent.
But as good as Bayern are going forward, they may also struggle in defence against Chelsea, which should ensure the final remains open.
Anatoliy Tymoshchuk is expected to play as an emergency central defender for Bayern, which will present a problem in dealing with the physical Didier Drogba, while a lack of a regular holding midfielder is an area Chelsea can exploit.
Meanwhile, Chelsea have to be fancied to score, as it has been 13 games since they last failed to hit the target in a Champions League fixture.
In terms of picking a winner, Bayern Munich are 4/5 to claim victory and of the three former finals where one of the teams have played on their own pitch, none have been beaten inside 90 minutes.
Furthermore, their case must be championed by the fact that English clubs have been dreadful in recent European finals, with Manchester United the winners from the last eight and this was against Chelsea.
However, Chelsea are made of stern stuff under Roberto Di Matteo and have seemingly flourished under the tag of underdogs in the competition thus far.
There seems little between the two starting line-ups and so at the prices Chelsea certainly look the superior bet.
