MANCHESTER UNITED VS BARCELONA 2009 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL TIPS

We are currently less than 72 hours away from the biggest football match of the entire year and a kick-off that will finally put to rest so many hours of pub-based banter arguing over who's the greatest football team in the world. Manchester United take on Barcelona in Rome for the penultimate match of the 2009 UEFA Champions League. There isn't too much between these teams if you're looking around the bookmakers, with virtually every bet in the outright market paying out better than evens. William Hill has United and Barca at 17/10 apiece for the win and the draw available at 21/10. The one big thing that stands out to me is the incredibly short odds on United keeping a clean sheet. 2/1 is the price and that really speaks volumes to me. Not like I'm a big fan of speaking in poker terms, but United effectively have more "outs" than Barca do to guarantee victory. For Barcelona to win, United need to come at them and attack therefore leaving space open at the back for Messi & Co. to exploit. If Barca try to play low-scoring, attrition football like they did against Chelsea then they need a lot of luck and some help from Norwegian officials to secure the victory.United have the best defence in the Premier League and the most clean sheets in this year's Champions League. Of their last 18 matches, 13 have been clean sheets and with Rio Ferdinand supposedly winning his fitness battle United will have the best central defensive partnership in the world in their line-up and I think that's like having an ace up your sleeve against a competent attacking side like Pep Guardiola's Barcelona.United will be looking to absorb Barcelona and then punish them on the break. United can also hold the ball up a lot better and stretch Barca out by getting men into the channels. I think Barca will be trying to play through the middle, and that won't play to their advantage. Attacking John O'Shea on the right is a likely tactic, but the problem is that Vidic is too strong and United will have Anderson tracking back to provide cover. Simply put, Barcelona don't have a weak point to attack like they usually do. I can't see Barcelona scoring more than 1 goal in this match, and with their defence looking very porous, I expect Ronaldo and Rooney to be testing them all day. Paul Scholes will bring much-needed experience to the line (I'm just hoping he doesn't get sent off) and Park Ji Sung will be providing lots of industry down the right. I actually fancy him as an excellent first goalscorer bet- he thrives in these types of games. Cristiano Ronaldo is 7/4 to score anytime. Wayne Rooney is 2/1 to score anytime. Lionel Messi is 11/4 to score anytime with Samuel Eto'o available at 2/1. Both teams are at 12/5 to be ahead at half-time. Interestingly enough, William Hill have some match-bets and you'll see that United are favoured throughout most of them. Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi has Ronaldo at 14/5 with Messi at 16/5. Wayne Rooney vs Samuel Eto'o has them both at 3/1. Wayne Rooney vs Lionel Messi has Rooney at 14/5 and Messi at 16/5. We'll have more articles and betting tips as the match draws closer! Stay Tuned!