[ad_pod ]It’s the big season-ender this Saturday.The Champions League final between five-time winners Liverpool and Tottenham, who will be making their first ever appearance in a Champions League final.Given their wealth of experience at the top level of European football, the Reds have been tipped as favourites to win the showpiece event in Madrid this weekend, although it isn’t as clear cut as it seems.Are the media letting Jurgen Klopp off lightly for his lack of silverware? The Pl>ymaker FC squad have their say in the video below…Of course, as aforesaid, Liverpool have the experience; they’ve been there numerous times before, and are comfortable on a stage like this.Even in just the last three years, Jurgen Klopp’s men have contested two European finals; Spurs’ last final was the 2015 League Cup final.Much more recently, Liverpool’s ‘favourites’ tag has been further reinforced by the fact that they finished a whole 26 points above Mauricio Pochettino’s side in the league this term, and also beat them home and away by a 2-1 scoreline.Courtesy of a stat from resident Football FanCast writer Set Tudor though, we can see that Liverpool have amassed just five points more than Tottenham since Klopp was appointed as Brendan Rodgers’ replacement.
Football fans tend to have long memories, remembering every little detail about former players, those who have besmirched their club’s name, the opposition players who have taunted them; they can recall more than you would even imagine.
However, in this instance, everyone seems to be affected by a bit of recency bias.
We must remember that, before this record-breaking season for Liverpool, they were the ones finishing fourth whilst Tottenham nabbed third place.
Form goes well and truly out of the window when it comes to a cup final, where strange things can happen.
Players can take their performance level to new heights, or see it crumble under the pressure; literally anything can happen.
Just because Liverpool amassed a lot more points than Spurs this year and have beaten them twice should not allow them to be defined as favourites.