PSG v Inter Build Ups Tipsheet: Five to back for final | OneFootball

UEFA Champions League

The continent's showpiece event awaits

Ste Tudor picks out a quintet of fascinating duels set to play out in Munich using Betfair's new  player v player Build Ups product...

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Betfair's Build Ups tool allows you to pit one player against another and with a Champions League final honing into view that offers up a plethora of duels to consider.

Here's a pick of the bunch, starting with two midfielders not averse to a shirt pull or a late challenge.

To Commit More Fouls - Joao Neves v Henrikh Mhkitaryan

There is little to separate these players in the per-90 stats. The Inter schemer has sinned 1.48 times per 90 this term. Neves' average is 1.46.

Where a disparity does emerge is in the multiples of fouls committed. Across Inter's last 50 games in all comps, Mhkitaryan has fouled more than once in 12 contests. In this regard Neves trails with eight.

On the face of it then, the former Manchester United star is the player to back in this particular match-up, but a pertinent detail persuades us otherwise.

Neves tends to reserve his more fractious performances for the big games. He committed three fouls in last weekend's Coupe de France final. He forced the ref to blow up four times away at Arsenal and four times again during PSG's home victory over Aston Villa.The bigger the stage, the dirtier he gets and the Allianz Arena is one hell of a big stage.

To Have More Shots On Target - Khvicha Kvaratskhelia v Marcus Thuram

This is an evens shout full of value.

In his last outing for Les Parisiens - a 3-1 home win over Auxerre - Kvaratskhelia scored twice and all told amassed five shots on target. No-one in the PSG ranks has bettered that tally all season and if nothing else, it reveals that the 24-year-old has his eye in.

Elsewhere, the winger's SOT-count has been steady since heading to France in January as his overall stat of 1.20 per 90 illustrates.

Marcus Thuram's figures are inferior to his counterpart but what most convinces here is that since early March he has troubled the oppo keeper every 213.5 minutes.

The French international didn't even manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes at home to Barcelona, a seven-goal thriller that produced 17 SOT by its conclusion.

To Have More Assists - Ousmane Dembele v Denzil Dumfries

Dembele is 10/3 to assist anytime this Saturday in the main market. Here he is available at a slightly better price to out-assist a player who has six this season to his 13.

Moreover, deployed on the same flank as Kvaratskhelia and Nuno Mendes, Dumfries' forays forward will likely be restricted to the occasional gallop in Munich. This is a match-up as much about opportunity - or lack of - as data.

If the Dutchman's attacking instincts are expected to be seriously compromised there are no such concerns with Dembele, deployed at the very heart of a maelstrom of movement from PSG's fabulous front five.

He should be fancied to add to a productive recent record that's seen him assist five times in his last nine starts.

To Have More Shots - Nicolo Barella v Vitinha

The Italian midfielder trails to Vitinha in their respective shot-counts for 2024/25, but it's the Inter man backed here with recent output a big factor.

A consistent provider of a single effort on goal per 90, Barella went up a level at home to Barcelona, registering three across the contest.

By comparison, PSG's Portuguese metronome has focused more and more of late on his defensive responsibilities. Subsequently, he has taken on just the one attempt in his last five-and-a-half hours of football.

To Win More Fouls - Federico Dimarco v Achraf Hakimi

There is a very simple reason why Hakimi is 10/11 to win this particular match-up over his counterpart. He has consistently won more fouls this term than Dimarco, 1.15 per 90 to 0.44.

Yet, with the pair set to come into direct contact many times over this Saturday, should we flip it we discover that the playing field becomes more even.

The Italian has averaged 0.77 fouls per 90 this season, erring more than once on six occasions in Inter's last 50 fixtures.

Hakimi meanwhile has averaged 1.07 fouls per 90, committing multiple fouls every five outings. At the Emirates last month, the Moroccan sinned five times and was booked for his troubles.

Acknowledging this makes Dimarco's price tempting to say the least.