We’ve got an all English final on the way coming on May 29, as Manchester City and Chelsea have punched their tickets to play for the Champions League glory. Later this month, the two teams will travel to Istanbul to try and reign supreme of all the European giants. In this piece, we have our Champions League Final picks for Man City vs. Chelsea. This one should be a battle.
Shortly after this matchup was locked in, Manchester City has opened up as the favorite going up against Chelsea in the Champions League Final. This should come as no surprise, as City has been considered the top contender in the tournament for months now. With the club getting ready to lock in a Premier League title as well, their confidence is through the roof.
Things couldn’t be going better for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City. They showcased their dominance in the semifinals, taking down Paris Saint-Germain with a 4-1 aggregate to move on to play for the trophy. Phil Foden continues to show us why he’s among the best young players in the world. Entering the Final, City has -250 odds and Chelsea is at +175.
| CL Final odds |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Man City to win | -250 | -250 | -250 | -250 |
| Chelsea to win | +175 | +175 | +175 | +175 |
| City to score first | -150 | -150 | -150 | -150 |
| Chelsea to score first | +155 | +155 | +155 | +155 |
Meanwhile for Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel’s group also has plenty of confidence. The London side took down Real Madrid in the semifinals, locking things down with a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge in the second leg. The two sides drew 1-1 in the first matchup in Madrid. Now, Chelsea will have the tall task of trying to stun Manchester City.
We don’t think that will happen. The Vegas sportsbooks have Man City as the favorites for a reason: they’re playing like the best club in the world. Few teams have been able to slow them down and we don’t think Chelsea FC will be able to pull off a stunner. Manchester City is no question our pick.
It goes without saying, but Chelsea can’t afford to let Man City score first when they face off in the Champions League Final. City’s offensive attack is so precise, that once the unit gets confidence, they can really make goals rain in with ease.
Foden is such a threat, while Riyad Mahrez’s ability to finish things off is out of this world. That kind of attack was on display against PSG in the second leg of the semis, as a beautiful Foden delivery set up Mahrez with his second goal of the night. Don’t forget about Kevin De Bruyne either, as he’s a magician with the ball at his feet. His passes are one of a kind.
For Chelsea to have any kind of a prayer in this one, they’ll need to find the back of the net first. That’s no easy task, as City’s defense has been superb, powered by John Stones and Ruben Dias. It will be on Christian Pulisic, N’Golo Kante, Timo Werner, Kai Havertz, Mason Mount and others to try and break down that City defense to score the first goal of the evening.
The odds for who will score first are set at Man City at -150 and Chelsea at +155. Whoever does go up 1-0 will quite obviously have a huge upper hand the rest of the way. For Chelsea FC, they can’t trail early on. If that happens, trying to come back against a team as sound as Manchester City could be too difficult to do. With that said, we think City will go up 1-0 to start.
While the two teams, as of this writing, are set to face off again on May 8, the last time they played was in the FA Cup semis in mid-April. In that showdown, Chelsea beat Manchester City 1-0 in their last matchup. The victory came thanks to a goal in the 55th minute from Hakim Ziyech. It ended City’s hopes of adding an FA Cup title to its list.
This is a big deal mentally for Chelsea and Tuchel. This just goes to show that the club has what it takes to beat their big-time rivals. They took them down last month, so why not go out there and do it again? It’s obvious that Chelsea is an underdog in the Champions League Final. No one is denying that.
At the same time, we’ve seen some crazy things happen in this tournament. Pulisic, Kante, Werner, Mount and the rest of the Chelsea FC stars will do whatever it takes to try and win another Champions League trophy. Man City may be our pick, but if you have confidence in Chelsea as well, you can lay money on them knowing they’ve already been able to beat Guardiola’s men this campaign.
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