The UEFA Super Cup takes place this week live from Helsinki when UEFA Champions League champions Real Madrid take on UEFA Europa League champions Eintracht Frankfurt.
Real Madrid earned their 14th European crown with a 1-0 win over Liverpool back in May, while Frankfurt claimed a win over Rangers on penalties to win their first European title in their history ten days prior.
Now they'll compete in the European competition curtain raiser to see who the best team in Europe really is, and we'll break it down while providing you with our best free betting picks to see if we can earn you some extra cash for the summer.
Check out our review for My Bookie sports betting here.
Real Madrid vs Eintracht Frankfurt info
- Wednesday August 10th, 2022
- Helsinki Olympic Stadium
- Kick-off at 15:00 ET
- Live on CBS
Real Madrid vs Frankfurt odds
- Real Madrid - (-204)
- Draw - (+375)
- Eintracht Frankfurt - (+645)
The 14 time European champions and La Liga title holders come into this game as a heavy favourite, and rightly so considering the difference in quality between these two soccer sides.
After claiming a 1-0 win over Liverpool in Paris, France thanks to Vinicius Jr's goal, Madrid have added French starlet Aurelien Tchouameni to their midfield after a $81.5m deal from AS Monaco and defender Antonio Rudiger on a free transfer from Chelsea.
They also welcome back Eden Hazard to fitness following an injury hit few years at the Bernabeu, while legendary duo Marcelo and Gareth Bale have left the club at the end of their contracts along with former Spain international Isco.
Frankfurt on the other hand have added World Cup winner Mario Gotze to their squad after their triumph, while also paying AC Milan $10.8m for winger Jens Petter Hauge.
Wing-back Filip Kostic looks set to join Juventus this summer, but could still be available for this game with a deal yet to go through as of this writing.
Carlo Ancelotti and Oliver Glasner have never faced each other as managers, and this will be a very interesting tactical battle between two excellent coaches.
Check out how to bet on the Europa League here.
Predicted lineups
Real Madrid: Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Rudiger, Alaba; Casemiro, Kroos, Modric; Hazard, Benzema, Vinicius Jr
Frankfurt: Trapp; Tuta, Toure, Ndicka; Knauff, Rode, Sow, Kostic; Lindstram, Gotze, Borre.
Back Real Madrid to dominate
Soccer is a pretty simple game when discussing it on paper. 22 players run around the pitch for 90 minutes, and in the end the best team usually wins. That's almost certainly what will happen here too.
There are levels to these games and there is a reason why Frankfurt weren't even in the elite European competition last season, because they weren't good enough to be in it while Real Madrid were beating the best teams in the world to win it.
Man for man Madrid are a far better team than Kostic, and they will look to dominate possession in midfield with Luka Modric and Toni Kroos while Karim Benzema will drop deep to link play while also being the primary goal threat for the team.
Vinicius' pace out wide will be a big threat in the space between the wing back and central defenders in Frankfurt's 3-4-3 system, which could lead to Ancelotti using Hazard instead of makeshift winger Federico Valverde as he did in the Champions League final.
Ultimately this should be a pretty straight forward win for Madrid. They have more quality on the pitch, the better manager, the bigger and deeper squad and arguably the best player in the world right now in Benzema. Back them to win comfortably.
Learn more about how to bet on the UEFA Champions League here.
Karim Benzema to start the season with a goal
The heavy odds-on favourite for the 2022 Ballon d'Or is France and Real Madrid striker Benzema, after his absolutely stunning 2021/22 campaign.
He scored 44 goals and registered 15 assists in 46 appearances for the Spanish giants in all competitions last season, including important goals in the knockout stages of the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Manchester City as well as winning the Pichichi award for the top scorer in the Spanish league.
With his role as the captain of the team and the undisputed regular number 9 in one of the best teams in the world, he is likely to score a lot of goals this season too.
Benzema has hit 131 goals in the last four seasons and with the midfield stronger now and Vinicius Jr a year older and more mature, it's likely to continue in that vein.
As the main man, Benzema will find the net in this game to help Madrid win yet another trophy and further cement his spot as the 2022 Ballon d'Or winner for the best soccer player in the world.
