Sporting CP vs Manchester City prediction: EUROPE: Champions League – League phase betting tips on match 2024-11-04 20:00.
[p]There’s an intriguing subplot to this UEFA Champions League (UCL) fixture between Sporting CP and Manchester City as the hosts’ manager, Rúben Amorim, will soon take charge of City’s great rivals Manchester United. After guiding the Portuguese side to an unbeaten start in Europe (W2, D1) and ten straight league wins this term it’s no surprise that he was chosen for the Old Trafford job.[/p]
[p]He’ll depart during the international break, by which time his side could potentially be topping the UCL league phase, or at least be looking good for a place in the knockout stages. He would further impress his new employers with a good result here as Sporting’s UCL record at home against English clubs is poor (W1, L3) including a 5-0 H2H thrashing in February 2022.[/p]
[p]Man City (W2, D1) finished matchday three behind only fellow English sides Aston Villa and Liverpool, while they sit ahead of Sporting only thanks to a superior goal difference. Scoring nine times without reply across their last two European games should help them travel to Portugal with confidence, even if manager Pep Guardiola says the club’s serious injury crisis has them “in trouble”.[/p]
[p]Winning 5-0 here in 2022 in the round of 16 remains their joint-biggest UCL away victory, and they’re yet to concede in a UCL away game in Portugal (W1, D1). That said, although they’re unbeaten in European away games since May 2022 (W6, D6), they’ve conceded in eight of their last nine such fixtures, so they’re far from infallible – as further evidenced by Saturday’s 2-1 league defeat at Bournemouth. [/p]
[p]Players to watch: Viktor Gyökeres is reportedly upset with Amorim’s decision to leave, but Sporting hope he can put that aside after scoring eight goals across his last four club games – including in four in a 5-1 league win on Friday night. Opposite number Erling Haaland is one of few who can rival the Sporting sensation’s scoring exploits, with all three of his UCL goals this term arriving between the 55th and 70th minute – two of them in the 58th minute![/p]
[p]Hot stat: Five of Sporting’s last six UCL games produced exactly two goals (W2, D2, L2).[/p]
[p][i]Written by John Pennington[/i][/p]