The 23-year-old has enjoyed a prolific European campaign for Bayern Munich, and Al Hain-Cole thinks that he offers exceptional value to score last against Borussia Dortmund
All eyes turn to Wembley on Saturday, as Bayern Munich take on Borussia Dortmund in European football’s showpiece game – the Champions League final.
For many of these players, this will be the biggest match of their careers, while the Bayern contingent will be particularly determined to make up for last season’s disappointment against Chelsea which saw them beaten at the Allianz Arena.
This game also offers punters in the UK the opportunity to take advantage of bet365’s in-play offer which returns for this match. Simply place a pre-match bet on any market and you will be able to place a risk-free in-play bet to the same value, up to £50.
Thomas Muller thought he had won it for die Roten when he opened the scoring with less than 10 minutes remaining at the Allianz Arena this time last year, and is his side’s top scorer in this season’s competition with eight goals in 12 games.
The 23-year-old has enjoyed the final say in five of the last 10 European ties, and therefore offers potentially lucrative value at 11/2 (6.50) with Bet 365 to score last in the big match.
Mario Mandzukic was not part of the side that collected runners-up medals last season, and is favourite at 9/2 (5.50) to open the scoring in London, despite scoring just two goals in nine Champions League fixtures.
At the other end of the pitch, Robert Lewandowski seems to offer better value at 6/1 (7.00) to score first, having hit 10 goals in Europe this season, including all four in Die Schwarzgelben’s amazing 4-1 win over Real Madrid.
The Poland striker has bagged five goals in the last six encounters with Saturday’s opponents, and with 30 goals in his last 31 starts for his club, he is not to be missed at 13/8 (2.63) to hit the back of the net once again.
With Bayern-bound Mario Gotze conveniently injured for this match, Jurgen Klopp will hope to see Marco Reus take a central role in his side’s attack, and with four European goals to his name, the 23-year-old is available at 8/1 (9.00) to open the scoring, with 9/4 (3.25) looking tempting for him to score anytime.
Although almost impregnable at times this season, Jupp Heynckes’ defence has looked slightly vulnerable from set-pieces.
This weakness was exposed on Saturday by Borussia Moenchengladbach, who scored with their first corner of the match, while two of the last three goals conceded in this competition have come via that same route.
With this in mind, fans of long shots may want to think about backing Mats Hummels to score anytime at 11/1 (12.00), as the tall centre-back showed against Shakhtar Donetsk in the first knockout round that he is a real threat in attacking situations.
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Al Hain-Cole is a Liverpool fan, experienced tipster and avid follower of European football. He specialises in accumulators and if you would like to read more from Al you can follow him on Twitter here.