Can Man City recover from two straight losses? Plus Real Madrid vs. Milan and more Champions League action

Hi there! The UEFA Champions League is back on Tuesday with several enticing games on the schedule. I’m Pardeep Cattry with a look-ahead before another big European week.

Footy fix

All times U.S./Eastern

Monday, Nov. 4
EPL: Fulham vs. Brentford, 3 p.m. USA Network

Tuesday, Nov. 5
UCL: PSV vs. Girona, 12:45 p.m. Paramount+
UCL: Sporting Lisbon vs. Manchester City, 3 p.m. Paramount+

The Forward Line

Manchester City target rebound at Sporting Lisbon

It has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad last week for Manchester City. Their unbeaten start to the season officially came to a close with Wednesday’s EFL Cup loss at Tottenham Hotspur, but things took a turn for the worse with Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Bournemouth in Premier League action, suggesting that a long season might be ahead for Pep Guardiola’s once-dominant side.

Though City out-possessed and outshot the opposition in a way that has long become their trademark, that quantity was not matched by quality, particularly in attack. The reigning champions mustered just 1.56 expected goals but faced 2.04 expected goals from Bournemouth’s 12 shots, finally paying the price for a lack of precision that has loomed large over their performances this season. Be it the season-ending injury to Rodri, the impact of years of fixture congestion, or the plainly difficult task of maintaining a dynastic team, James Benge notes that City do not look like they did in years past.

• Benge: “Among the myriad qualities of this City team had been their ability to grasp control of a game from the off and set the tempo from there. In the four prior seasons to this, their Premier League record in the opening 10 minutes of matches read 33 goals scored, 11 conceded, two of them penalties. … This season that early dominance has evaporated. When Milos Kerkez blew past Phil Foden, cutting back for the byline for Antoine Semenyo to touch, pivot and strike before a defender could get close to him, it was the fourth time they have conceded before the clock ticked beyond the 10th minute. They have scored three. By almost every attacking statistic you care to mention, City have become far more vulnerable at the outset. In the entirety of the 2022-23 season they allowed four shots on target in those early exchanges. In 2021-22 that number was seven. Already this year it is at eight. The 2.76 non-penalty expected goals they’ve allowed this season betters any full Premier League season tally since at least 2020-21.”

They will attempt to correct course on Tuesday in one of the most fascinating Champions League games on Matchday 4, when they face Sporting Lisbon. Like City, Sporting are also off to a strong start in Europe with seven points out of nine, making Tuesday’s game in Portugal enticing in its own right. Most notably, though, it will be the most high-profile match in Ruben Amorim’s farewell tour as he swaps Sporting for Manchester United this time next week.

Four years after he first took the job, Amorim’s Sporting team are a well-drilled team that boasts one of Europe’s most in-form strikers in Viktor Gyokeres, who has 20 goals and four assists so far this season. With Amorim’s impending departure, though, this could be a big statement-making turn for the 39-year-old up against a future foe in Guardiola’s City. The English champion’s lull, quite frankly, could not come at a better time for Amorim and Sporting.

A two-game losing streak in the fall, though, does not necessarily mark the end of City’s era of dominance. How Guardiola’s side responds to this little bit of adversity will be worth keeping an eye on, with Tuesday’s game perhaps serving as a bellwether for their season as a whole.

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A jam-packed Champions League Tuesday

City’s clash with Sporting is far from the only high-profile Champions League matchup on Tuesday. Reigning champions Real Madrid host AC Milan in one of the most notable games of the day, while Liverpool take on Bayer Leverkusen in another exciting fixture.

Real Madrid’s meeting with Milan marks their first game since a 4-0 loss to Barcelona in El Clasico, so many will anticipate a big response from Carlo Ancelotti’s side. The team will have all their stars available to them for their return to Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, as well as the benefit of facing a Milan team that is still figuring things out.

They remain in inconsistent form this season, winning three games in their last six and losing the other three. Christian Pulisic has rightly stolen the spotlight for Milan this season, but as manager Paulo Fonseca looks to make his mark on the team, an equally compelling storyline is developing with Rafael Leao’s dwindling role. After serving as one of the stars of their second place finish in Serie A last season, Leao has now started just one in Milan’s last four games and has only one goal and three assists this campaign. Fonseca could extend that trend on Tuesday, though his big call will also come with the pressure to perform against a talented, but imperfect Real Madrid team.

Elsewhere, Liverpool take on Bayer Leverkusen in a battle of rising managerial stars. The edge naturally rests with the Reds’ Arne Slot, who has lost just one game since taking charge and leads one of only two sides with a perfect record in Champions League play. Slot’s Liverpool are defensively solid and will likely treat that as the foundation of their approach against Leverkusen on Tuesday, where he will face last year’s young manager of note – Xabi Alonso.

Leverkusen’s historic double-winning season has given way for a more complicated campaign that currently sees them in fourth place in the Bundesliga. Their porous defense has been costly at times in league play, conceding 15 goals in nine games so far, and Matchday 3’s draw with Brest may raise questions about their ability to repeat last year’s success. That’s no reason to count out Leverkusen on Tuesday, though. Rather, the game will serve as a progress report on both Alonso and Slot’s visions as they face one of their strongest tests of the season.

  Top Stories

Edu’s departure: Edu Gaspar will reportedly leave his post as Arsenal’s sporting director, a surprise move away from the resurgent club.

United, Chelsea stalemate: Manchester United and Chelsea drew 1-1 on Sunday, capping off a busy week for the Red Devils after firing Erik Ten Hag.

PSG’s UCL focus: Paris Saint-Germain manager Luis Enrique targets consistency from Gianluigi Donnarumma and Warren Zaire-Emery ahead of a big Champions League game against Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.

Bay FC’s rise: How Bay FC rebounded from a five-game losing streak to become only the second NWSL expansion team to make the playoffs.

Game 3 for Miami: Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami will head to game three in the MLS Cup playoffs after losing 2-1 at Atlanta United on Saturday.

Wrexham’s cup exit: Wrexham lost 1-0 to Harrogate Town on Sunday and were eliminated in the first round of the FA Cup, a surprise result against a lower-league side.

  The Back Line

Best bets

• UEFA Champions League: champion
  THE PICK: Manchester City to win the Champions League (+310) – The ups and downs of recent weeks aside, Manchester City remain the favorites to win the Champions League in the spring. What once felt like a two-horse race between them and Real Madrid, though, currently looks more like a three team battle with high-flying Barcelona now in the mix. It will be curious, though, to see if City can keep their frontrunner status in the long run. Tuesday’s game will be another crucial test for the longevity of Pep Guardiola’s team as we know it, and their recent form makes trophies feel like less of a certainty than in years past.
  UEFA Champions League: Celtic vs. RB Leipzig, Tuesday, 3 p.m.

THE PICK: RB Leipzig to win 2-1 (+850) – RB Leipzig are one of six teams who enter Matchday 4 with zero points, though they have a strong chance of snapping that losing streak when they play Celtic on Tuesday. They will have their chances against a Celtic team that has conceded eight goals in three games, though Leipzig may not escape Glasgow with a clean sheet. The hosts have six goals in Champions League play this season, double the number Leipzig have coming into Matchday 4.

For more picks, predictions, expert tips and the latest betting news, don’t miss out on CBSSports.com’s betting home page.   

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