Mario Mandzukic’s extra-time goal was the difference in Moscow in July as Croatia edged a tight 2-1 win over the Three Lions.

​The hosts are subsequently favourites to claim victory inside 90mins on Friday at 33/20 with bet365.

The 2 sides had contrasting weeks in Europe, with Liverpool going down 1-0 to a late Lorenzo Insigne goal in Naples on Wednesday night whilst Man City were 2-1 winners away to Hoffenheim after an 87th minute David Silva goal on Tuesday.

​Jurgen Klopp’s men got the better of Guardiola and his eventual Premier League champions last season via a memorable 4-3 win at Anfield.

​Bet365 have the Reds as marginal favourites to win at 6/4 with the visitors at 9/5 and the draw is 13/5.

Last seasons Golden Boot winner Mo Salah hasn’t quite been firing on all cylinders, but the Egyptian has found the net in all 3 Premier League games at Anfield.

​He was, however, on target in 3 of the 4 games against the Citizens last year and is subsequently15/4 to score first on Sunday.

The Blues claimed a 2-1 win in midweek, thanks in no small part to a magnificent solo goal from talismanic winger Eden Hazard.
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​Yet Sarri’s men are the outsiders to take all 3-points on Saturday at 9/5 with bet365 while Liverpool are currently 7/5 to win & maintain their perfect start to the 2018/19 season.

Pedro has already notched 3-times in the League for Chelsea this season but the Spanish winger is still nursing a shoulder injury and he is expected to miss out, leaving the way clear for Willian to start.

​The Brazilian is an appealing 9/1 with Bet365 to score first.

However, our main fancy to win the Championship are MIDDLESBROUGH. Tony Pulis guided Boro to the play-offs last season, having taken over from Garry Monk mid-way through the season. They’ve strengthened defensively over the Summer, signing centre-back pairing Aden Flint & Paddy McNair. At 8/1, they make plenty of appeal to us.

​​The Black Cats have a new owner, new manager and altogether new outlook on football this season. 

​Jack Ross, formerly of St Mirren, was appointed over the Summer and he has recruited well, signing the highly regarded Dylan McGeouch from Hibernian as well Charlie Wyke from Bradford who notched 12-times in League 1 last season. The 3/1 on offer looks perfectly fair.

However, in Paul Tisdale they have appointed a man who certainly knows his way around the division- as well as a cravat. Tisdale spent 12-years in charge of Exeter and guided the Grecians to a play-off final last year.

​The Dons have retained the majority of their squad from last year as well as bringing in 7 new faces, inc. former Exeter trio Jordan Moore-Taylor, Robbie Simpson & Ryan Harley.

BRAZIL will be lead out by the World’s most expensive footballer and the nations talisman, Neymar. The Selecao qualified as the number 2 seeds after topping the table in their qualification group- winning 12, drawing 5 and losing just 1 en route to Russia under the tenure of new head coach Tite who took over from Dunga in 2016.

Brazil are in Group E alongside Switzerland, Costa Rica & Serbia and they ought to qualify for the last-16 at the very least with little troubles.

GERMANY are the reigning world champions and unsurprisingly are seeded as the number 1 seeds for the Summer’s World Cup and nothing shows the strength in depth Joachim Low has at his disposal more than the fact he was able to leave Leroy Sane out of his 23-man squad for the tournament.

Die Mannschaft qualified with a perfect record of 10 wins from 10 matches, scoring an impressive 43 goals and conceding just 4 times. Their results in friendlies since hasn’t been quite so impressive- winning just once in 6 matches, however they didn’t shy away from a challenge during that time playing against England, France, Spain and Brazil.

SPAIN, the Champions from South Africa 2010, spectacular crashed out in the group stages in 2014 but Spanish football still remains a dominant force- highlighted by the fact La Liga teams have won the last 5 renewals of the UEFA Champions League.

7 of La Roja’s most probable starting-11 play their club football at either Camp Nou or the Bernabeu with the exceptions to that rule being De Gea, David Silva and Atleti duo Koke & Costa.

Spain qualified with a near perfect record of 9 wins and 1 draw with a goal difference in qualification of a mere +33.

FRANCE are something of the hipsters choice for World Cup glory this summer with Deschamps’ 23-man squad boasting an average age of just 26- the 2nd youngest in Russia this summer behind Nigeria.

France were favourites to claim European glory on home soil 2-years ago and they almost rewarded favourite backers before being pipped by surprise packages Portugal in the final.

Les Bleus qualified in rather unspectacular fashion scoring just 18 goals in their 10 matches and 0-0 draws against minnows Belarus & Luxembourg as well as a defeat to Sweden does leave a little to be desired in a tournament such as this with so much strength in depth.

​This season, however, has been somewhat underwhelming in truth, with their lowest league points return since 2007. The Galácticos, however, they have had no such issues in Europe, knocking out this season’s French, Italian AND German domestic league winners en route to facing Liverpool in the final.

​It’s fair to say that if Liverpool are to have any chance of denying Real a trio of successive European titles, they’ll not only need their goal scoring trio of Salah, Mane & Firmino to cause problems on the counter, but they’ll also need a rock solid performance from their defence which has been prone to leaking goals – conceding 7 goals in their last 3 Champions League games.

Real Madrid are understandably favourites at 8/13 to lift the trophy with Liverpool at 6/5 whilst over 2.5 goals is 4/9 & both teams to score is 2/5.

​Both managers will be desperate to finish the season on a high, with speculation rife surrounding Antonio Conte's future at Stamford Bridge. Jose Mourinho, on the other hand, will be looking to build on last year’s cup success in the EFL Cup and the Europa Cup as he goes up against his former club. ​

As for potential goal-scorers, United striker Romelu Lukaku faces a race against time to be fit for the game, and it could therefore be left to Marcus Rashford to lead the line for Utd. The English teenager will be keen to impress on the big stage, and look to add to the 7 goals he's notched up this season across all competitions. Whilst for the Blues, Olivier Giroud is likely to start the match as the most likely to score following a recent good run of form which included a goal in the FA Cup semi-finals against Southampton.

9 years on from THAT infamous Didier Drogba incident which followed a 1-1 draw that saw Chelsea knocked out in the semi-finals on away goals, the 2 sides have met only twice since with the most recent being in the 2011/12 Champions League semi-finals when Fernando Torres scored THAT goal which sent Chelsea through to a final they’d go on to win on penalties against Bayern Munich. ​

​All in all, in the 10 times this fixture has been played with just 4 ending in a stalemate, and only once ending goal-less after 90minutes.

Barcelona, meanwhile, emerged as comfortable winners of Group D- finishing 3pts ahead of Juventus- winning 4 & drawing the remaining 2.  ​​

The Catalans will be without £142million January signing Phillipe Coutinho, who is cup tied having made 5 appearances in the competition for Liverpool already this season.

​What’s more, with Luis Suarez yet to score a single goal in this year’s Champions League, the pressure (if the man even feels pressure) will be on Lionel Messi to add to the 3 he has already.