Manchester City face the threat of a rare third consecutive loss as they prepare to meet Sporting Lisbon in Tuesday’s Champions League showdown in Portugal. It’s a testing time for the English champions, while Sporting are navigating their own challenges with manager Ruben Amorim’s imminent departure to Manchester United.Saturday’s clash with Bournemouth offered City an opportunity to capitalize on Arsenal’s stumble at Newcastle, yet Pep Guardiola’s team fell short, suffering a shock 2-1 defeat. Antoine Semenyo and Evanilson put Bournemouth in control, with Josko Gvardiol’s late goal proving only a consolation. As a result, City now trail Liverpool in the Premier League standings, having seen their 32-match unbeaten streak abruptly ended.Liver vs Lever: Xabi’s return to the place of former gloryCity’s defeat to Bournemouth followed an EFL Cup exit to Tottenham, but their Champions League campaign remains largely intact. After a scoreless draw against Inter Milan, City convincingly defeated Slovan Bratislava and Sparta Prague. They are unbeaten in 26 consecutive Champions League matches, excluding penalty shootouts, but face a Sporting side keen to test them before Amorim departs for Old Trafford after the upcoming international break.Appointed to replace Erik ten Hag at Manchester United, Amorim will aim to exit Sporting on a high, and a victory over City would certainly help. Despite some unease among his players regarding his decision to leave, Sporting continue to excel on the field. They demolished Estrela Amadora 5-1 on Friday, extending their perfect record to 10 wins from 10 games in the Primeira Liga, firmly securing their top spot.”The worst and best week of my life but I’m going to one of the best clubs in the world.”Ruben Amorim speaks ahead of Sporting’s #UCL clash with Man City… and his own move to the other side of Manchester 👀 pic.twitter.com/8Lx3mAx6M8— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) November 4, 2024 Like City, Sporting hold seven points from their first three Champions League games, thanks to wins over Lille and Sturm Graz and a draw with PSV Eindhoven. They’re currently eighth in the Champions League table, trailing City by a few places on goal difference. Sporting will aim to match their longest unbeaten streak in Europe, a four-game run dating back to the 1980s, when they face City, a team they last encountered in the 2021-22 Champions League. In that tie, City overpowered Sporting 5-0 in Lisbon, though Sporting managed a goalless draw in Manchester.🇸🇪🟢 Viktor Gyökeres (Sporting CP, 26)🇳🇴🔵 Erling Haaland (Manchester City, 24)🇪🇺#UCLCompare players 👉 https://t.co/McR5zrPkTO pic.twitter.com/D6QrO68ehg— DataMB (@DataMB_) November 5, 2024 Ahead of the game, Guardiola continues to manage a mounting injury list. While Savinho, Jeremy Doku, Kyle Walker, and Kevin De Bruyne returned for the Bournemouth match, they remain short of full fitness. Guardiola has also ruled out Ruben Dias and John Stones for an extended period, adding to a medical list that includes Rodri, Oscar Bobb, and Jack Grealish. Both De Bruyne and Savinho, sidelined with an ankle issue from the Tottenham game, were unused substitutes against Bournemouth, and Walker may be given a rest after a challenging weekend performance, with Rico Lewis a likely replacement.##EDITORS_CHOICE##Sporting’s injury concerns are relatively minor in comparison. They’ll be without defender Eduardo Quaresma and long-term absentee Nuno Santos, who is sidelined with a knee injury. However, they’ll rely on their in-form forward Viktor Gyokeres, who scored four of Sporting’s five goals against Estrela. Gyokeres, who has already notched 20 goals in 17 games this season, has attracted interest from City as a potential successor to Erling Haaland should the Norwegian striker ever depart.”If we win tomorrow, people will think that the new Alex Ferguson has arrived!” 🏆Ruben Amorim isn’t paying attention to the extra eyes from Manchester United fans on Sporting’s match tomorrow against Manchester City 👀 pic.twitter.com/FRN5UonbU4— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) November 4, 2024 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – ROUND 4Tuesday20:45: (1.77) PSV (3.80) Girona (4.50)20:45: (4.00) Slovan B. (3.60) Dinamo Zagreb (2.00)23:00: (2.80) Bologna (3.40) Monaco (2.65)23:00: (2.75) Celtic (3.45) RB Leipzig (2.50)23:00: (1.20) Dortmund (7.25) Sturm (12.0)23:00: (3.10) Lille (3.30) Juventus (2.50)23:00: (1.80) Liverpool (4.10) Leverkusen (4.40)23:00: (1.48) Real Madrid (5.00) Milan (6.70)23:00: (4.00) Sporting (3.60) Man.City (2.00)Wednesday20:45: (3.50) Club Brugge (3.45) Aston Villa (2.10)20:45: (2.05) Shakhtar (3.45) Young Boys (3.60)23:00: (1.35) Bayern (5.80) Benfica (9.00)23:00: (18.0) Crvena Zvezda (7.20) Barcelona (1.20)23:00: (1.60) Feyenoord (4.00) Salzburg (5.70)23:00: (2.65) Inter (3.35) Arsenal (2.85)23:00: (1.73) PSG (3.75) Atl.Madrid (4.80)23:00: (2.45) Sparta Praha (3.35) Brest (2.90)23:00: (2.45) Stuttgart (3.75) Atalanta (2.85)***odds are subject to change***
