Champions League
2026-05-30 - Paris Saint-Germain vs Arsenal
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: UEFA Champions League Final
Saturday 30th May 2026 - Kick Off 5pm
This game is live on TV
Paris Saint-Germain
While it cannot be taken for granted, Paris Saint-Germain winning the French Championship is not going to generate massive headlines outside of the home nation. However, it has long been a completely different achievement to win the Champions League for any club that does so and Paris Saint-Germain can rewrite history by defending the trophy won last year.
Not only would they become the first ever French team to win the European Cup/Champions League twice, but doing so by defending the title would make Paris Saint-Germain just the second club to do that since 1990 alongside Real Madrid (who won three in a row between 2016 and 2018). Over the last eighteen months, Paris Saint-Germain have dominated Premier League clubs in big Champions League matches and they have added Chelsea and Liverpool to the collection this season.
Paris Saint-Germain had been unbeaten in 7 games in all competitions, but were beaten on the final game of the domestic season by rivals Paris FC. They are unbeaten in 11 Champions League Knock Out ties and Paris Saint-Germain have won 9 of those, while they had won 5 of the 7 games played in all competitions before the loss in the last fixture.
Both Achraf Hakimi and Ousmane Dembele are doubts for the defending Champions.
Arsenal
The main ambition of this season would have been winning the Premier League and Arsenal have achieved that before the final day of the season. This has given Mikel Arteta and the players plenty of time to enjoy their successes before the hard work and focus turns to trying to win the Champions League for the first time.
They can take inspiration from Paris Saint-Germain, who did that last season, but Arsenal will have to deal with the pressure of playing in a first Champions League Final in twenty years. Some will state they have been on the 'easier' side of the Knock Out Bracket having beaten Bayer Leverkusen, Sporting Lisbon and Atletico Madrid to reach the Final, but Arsenal did top the Champions League Group Stage and so will believe that is a justified reward for doing so.
Arsenal are unbeaten in 7 games in all competitions since the loss at Manchester City in the Premier League, while they have won 6 of those matches including the last 5 in a row after getting the better of Crystal Palace last Sunday. The late goal scored by Crystal Palace is only the second one Arsenal have conceded during that 7 game unbeaten run.
Ben White is out, but Mikel Merino returned to the squad on Sunday. David Raya is not expected to miss out having been rested, which leaves Jurrien Timber as the only doubt.
Head to Head
Arsenal beat Paris Saint-Germain at home in the Champions League Group last season, but lost both Semi Final ties when they met later in the campaign.
The Gunners had been unbeaten in 5 games against Paris Saint-Germain before the Champions League Semi Final last season.
Prediction
The Champions League Final is going to be kicking off at an earlier time than fans will be used to on Saturday and it looks like a contest that could be closely contested when Paris Saint-Germain look to defend the trophy won last season against English Champions Arsenal.
Over the last eighteen months, Paris Saint-Germain have beaten so many of the top teams in England that there will be a confidence within the ranks. That includes a win over Manchester City in a pivotal Group game in January 2025 and followed up by Knock Out ties won against Liverpool (twice), Aston Villa, Arsenal and Chelsea
However, it should be noted that they were beaten in a couple of those ties by Liverpool and Aston Villa (both last season), while Liverpool had them under some pressure earlier this year when VAR overturned a Penalty that may have allowed Arne Slot's to take the lead and halve the deficit in that Quarter Final tie.
Paris Saint-Germain's win over Bayern Munich in the Semi Final has impressed most in the Knock Out run, while Arsenal have been functional as they have seen off Bayer Leverkusen, Sporting and Atletico Madrid.
Some of those wins came during a sticky period of the season, but Arsenal have kept winning and showing resiliency and winning the Premier League title will have given the squad a huge lift. There is a depth to this Arsenal team that will make them dangerous, while the underlying numbers from the two Semi Final ties played last season suggest The Gunners were unfortunate to lose both.
Luis Enrique will not have overlooked that and he will also accept that this Arsenal team is improved from the one that Paris Saint-Germain edged out 3-1 on aggregate in the Semi Final last season.
There is clearly a quality in the Paris Saint-Germain ranks which means they will outperform some of the numbers with attacking players providing clinical and composed actions in the final third.
Mikel Arteta is going to be well aware of the threat posed, but he will also believe in his Arsenal defence, which has 4 clean sheets in 6 Champions League Knock Out ties played. They will continue to pose a threat from the quality of set pieces that can be produced and Arsenal have a depth to the substitute bench that can change the flow of the fixture.
The Gunners are definitely far more dangerous than some think and this feels like another Champions League Final where the first goal is going to be so, so important.
In fact, the last 7 Champions League Finals have ended with one of the teams failing to find the back of the net and 4 have ended 1-0.
In 2 of the 3 meetings of these clubs last season, one of the teams failed to score and it does feel like a contest that could come down to very fine margins.
Ten years have passed since we have needed Extra Time or Penalties to decide the Champions of Europe, and this could be another Final in which the team taking the lead is able to do enough to hang onto the advantage and secure success.
Genuinely it does feel like that could come from either side with tension likely to grow the longer there is a stalemate.
An early goal could change everything and produce a classic Final, but the feeling is that there is going to be enough respect in both dugouts to not want to give anything away.
There was a real temptation to back at least one of the teams failing to score at close to odds against prices, but backing under 2.5 goals does cover the 1-1 scoreline and that could be a real player.
Before last season and Paris Saint-Germain's thumping of Inter Milan, the previous 6 Champions League Finals had all ended with fewer than three goals shared out and that could be the case again in a fixture where both teams can be pretty stubborn defensively.
It has been a really strong season for the Champions League Picks for this writer and hopefully there is one more winner to be placed on the board in Budapest on Saturday afternoon.
The Pick :
Paris Saint-Germain 1-1 Arsenal
