The Patriots do not need an introduction: It is the best franchise in the history of American sports. It will be their ninth appearance in the last game of the season, which is more than any other team. It will be Tom Brady’s seventh trip to the Super Bowl, which is also more than any other player ever. It will be Belichick’s ninth Super Bowl appearance as he too is set to become the coach with the most appearances in the ultimate game of the year. And they are just two of the stars – the quarterback and the coach. Surrounding them is a rag-tag bunch, who were discarded from other teams for varying reasons, turning into well-oiled cogs in the wheel that is a Belichick-run football team.

The Patriots are the best franchise in the history of the sport but one thing is very clear; the only stars are Tom Brady and Bill Belichick

The Patriots have been missing their second best player in Rob Gronkowski for over two months, but it has hardly made an ounce of a difference during the Patriots’ run to the final. The mantra of “next man up” fits perfectly for Belichick and co. along with that of “do your job!”. The home crowd engage in singing The Outfield’s - Don’t want to lose your love tonight in an effort to spur their team on and it has worked. They are the second best offense in the league this year and also boast a stingy defense, allowing just 15.6 points per game, which is the lowest number in the NFL.

In front of them, however, is the Atlanta Falcons. The best offense in the NFL this season, the best one we have seen this century and possibly, the best attack in history. They have Matt Ryan under center, who is the best quarterback in the league this year and the favourite to scoop the MVP award.

This year, almost nobody has been able to slow down the machine run by Matt Ryan. His offense is averaging nearly 34 points a game.

They have averaged 34 points per game this year and seem to have the code to every defensive lock they have faced, no matter how complicated the combination might seem. It is just their second Super Bowl and with New England featuring in so many that it almost feels like another game for them, the bookies in Las Vegas have the Patriots as three point favourites. We are all set for an incredible, unpredictable game and AS will bring you all the action live.

Tom Brady is already considered one of the best players to ever play in the NFL and his presence in Super Bowl LI just adds to his legend. His participation in the final this year will make him the player with the most Super Bowl appearances with seven. If he wins, he will become the only quarterback with five rings and there will only be one other player, linebacker Charles Haley, with as many titles. If he happens to win MVP, he will be the only player to win the award four times; these are just some of the records he can beat on Sunday. Brady is 39 years old; an age at which most players think about calling it quits, but Brady has had an excellent season in which he has not been held back by his age. He continues to foster the same hope as he did on his first day in the NFL and his name is firmly in the mix as an MVP candidate despite being banned for four games for the Inflategate debacle.

Matt Ryan has had an unbelievable season and the proof of this is that he is the favourite to scoop the MVP award for the league’s best player. The MVP award is handed out on the eve of the Super Bowl and, if he manages to win, this might give Ryan the confidence to beat perennial Super Bowl side the New England Patriots. If he happens to win the MVP in the Super Bowl, he would join a distinct list of six players who have achieved such a feat including the likes of Joe Montana. Matt Ryan is known as “Matty Ice” due to his ice cold temperament in the tensest situations. He is one of the more elegant QBs of this century and his anticipation, movement, and precision are backed up with impressive numbers. For example, his quarterback rating, a mathematical formula that assigns a number to a quarterback (the maximum a quarterback can achieve is 158.3), is 117.1. This is enough to see him fifth on the list of all time quarterback ratings for an entire season.

Very few doubt that Bill Belichick, the Patriots head coach, is the best in American football’s history. His favourite quote is, “I have forgotten more about football than you will ever know.” It is no longer about the number of Super Bowls won, or the number of Super Bowl appearances for Belichick. The miracle of Bill Belichick is that, year after year, he manages to build a team made up of discarded players from other teams. In addition, he has constantly helped the NFL to evolve in other coach's game planning and he sets trends in the NFL based on his tactics. He also has Josh McDaniels by his side, widely considered the best offensive coordinator in the NFL, and Matt Patricia, a coordinator who appeared to be living in the shadows of his head coach but has emerged as a defensive mastermind.

This is a showdown between the best coach in the history of the NFL and a man who has worked a miracle in the last two years

Dan Quinn arrived in Atlanta two years ago and has turned the franchise on its head in record time. From being fined and losing draft picks for using fake stadium noise in the Georgia Dome in an effort to create an atmosphere in their home stadium to a Super Bowl is down to the excellent work of Quinn. One of the defensive experts under Pete Carroll in Seattle, Quinn has created a mean defense in Atlanta that has room for improvement but plays with so much speed that they are constantly frightening the lives out of their opponents. He has Kyle Shanahan as his offensive coordinator. Shanahan, the son of Mike Shanahan, who coached in the league for over 30 years, is capable of incredibly complex systems and creating imaginative and effective game-plans against any opponent.