Champions League final specials: Five to back from the side markets

Recommended bets:
- Back Ilkay Gundogan to score anytime
- Back Kevin De Bruyne to score or assist
- Back Jack Grealish to have one or more shots on target
- Back Rodri to receive a card
- Back Inter to receive under 2.5 cards

Manchester City and Inter Milan are both hoping to complete a trophy treble in Saturday's Champions League final in Istanbul and we have picked out five bets worth considering in the side markets.

Back Ilkay Gundogan to score anytime at 3/1

Ilkay Gundogan has emerged as a regular scorer for Manchester City in recent years, notching 29 Premier League goals across the last three campaigns, and he has every chance of netting against Inter at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium.

The markets have focused heavily on Erling Haaland, who tops the Champions League scoring charts with 12 goals.

Haaland is 11/5 to score first and just 8/13 to notch anytime, yet he has found the net just once in his last seven appearances.

Opposing defences are paying more attention to the Norwegian and Inter are unlikely to be any different as they seek to manage the Citizens' biggest threat.

However, the downside of focusing heavily on Haaland is that spaces open up for his team-mates.

And the player to benefit most from the Haaland obsession has been Gundogan, who helped himself to six goals in his last six appearances.

Gundogan needed just 12 seconds to open the scoring in last Saturday's FA Cup final and he looks a value 3/1 shot to score against Inter.

Back Kevin De Bruyne to score or assist at 8/11

Kevin De Bruyne assisted both of Gundogan's goals in the FA Cup final and he can have a major impact in Istanbul.

The Belgian tops the assists charts in the Premier League with 16 – four more than his closest rival Mohamed Salah.

De Bruyne has had eight goals involvements in nine Champions League appearances – assisting six times and scoring twice – and he often saves his best for the biggest games.

City were in a spot of bother after conceding the first goal of their semi-final tie against Real Madrid but De Bruyne changed the dynamic with a stunning strike.

He went on to assist two goals in the 4-0 second-leg success over Real and looks a solid 8/11 bet to register at least one goal involvement (either scoring or assisting) this weekend.

Back Jack Grealish to have one or more shots on target at 4/5

Inter's heavy focus on Haaland may also afford Jack Grealish a greater opportunity to impact the match.

Grealish needs to add more goals to his game but he has averaged 1.5 shots per game in the Premier League this season and his performances have earned him a regular starting berth in the big matches ahead of talented team-mates Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez.

The 27-year-old seems likely to get the nod in the final and has every chance of registering at least one shot on target.

Back Rodri to receive a card at 3/1

Inter's strategy from the start will be to sit deep, probably in more of a 5-3-2 shape than a 3-5-2, and look to exploit Manchester City with swift counter-attacks.

Pep Guardiola will be relying on his holding midfielders, John Stones and Rodri, to snuff out moments of danger.

Rodri often walks a tightrope with his tactical fouling and looks more likely than Stones to incur the displeasure of referee Szymon Marciniak. He looks a tempting 3/1 shot to be carded.

Back Inter to receive under 2.5 cards at 10/11

Inter will spend a lot more time than City without the ball and will probably have to make plenty of tackles but expectations of a high card count for the Italians may have been overblown.

The Nerazzurri are shorter odds to receive more than 2.5 cards (5/6) than less (10/11), but those odds fly in the face of statistical probability.

Inter have received fewer than two cards in each of their last 16 fixtures, including both legs of their Champions League semi-final against fierce rivals Milan, and it seems likely that the low card trend will continue.