Can Ruben Amorim gain his first success as Manchester United manager by leading Sporting Lisbon to Champions League success against injury-riddled Manchester City in Portugal?
In one of those wild football twists of fate, Erik ten Hag’s replacement does not take charge at Old Trafford until the international break meaning he will he be in the dugout at the Estadio Jose Alvalade against a City side reeling from successive defeats.
Amorim had been hailed as the potential successor to City boss Pep Guardiola if he decides to seek a fresh challenge when his contract at the Etihad Stadium expires in the summer, so it is something of a coup for United to appoint him as their new boss after making their worst start ever to a Premier League season.
City head to Portugal bidding to avoid a third straight defeat for the first time since April 2018, when they suffered a 3-0 Champions League loss to Liverpool at Anfield, a 3-2 defeat to Manchester United in the league and a 2-1 reversal in the return match with the Reds.
A 2-1 loss at Tottenham in the Carabao Cup last Wednesday was followed by another defeat by the same scoreline at Bournemouth on Saturday which brought to an end an astonishing run of 32 league games without losing.
They have gone 26 games without defeat in the Champions League if penalty shoot-outs are taken out of the equation but will be up against it when they face Sporting, who are in fine fettle after breaking the dominance of Porto and Benfica and winning last season’s Primeira Liga.
They are top once again this season with ten straight wins to their credit after Friday’s 5-1 victory over Estrela.
In the new-look Champions League a 2-0 win over Lille was followed by a 1-1 draw at PSV Eindhoven and they have since won 2-0 at Sturm Graz while City are also on seven points with a 0-0 draw at home to Inter Milan followed by a 4-0 triumph in Bratislava and a 5-0 success against Sparta Prague.
John Stones and Ruben Diaz are injured but Kevin De Bruyne and Savinho were unused subs against the Cherries and could be back to help City take a point at 3/1 with Betfair.
Livewire striker Viktor Gyokeres is 6/1 with Unibet and BetMGM to open the scoring and 41/20 with the same firms to score at any time while Phil Foden is 5/2 with Sky Bet to reply for the Premier League champions. A 2-2 draw is 14/1 with William Hill.
• Liverpool can celebrate returning to the top of the Premier League with a Champions League success at Anfield against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen. The Reds, who enjoyed some good fortune in Saturday’s win over Brighton, are 3/4 to win with BetGoodwin and can triumph 2-1 at 15/2 with William Hill and bet365. Cody Gakpo is 15/2 to break the deadlock and 5/2 with the same firms to stick the ball in the back of the net.
• Sheffield United, Oxford, Watford and Stockport form Tuesday’s Football League acca.
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