Five talking points ahead of Matchday 5 in this year’s Champions League as Arsenal come face-to-face with one of Europe’s most prolific strikers and Liverpool entertain Real Madrid.
Champions League talking points:
Arsenal need to halt unstoppable Gyokeres
Viktor Gyokeres will partake in his latest audition for the role of one of Europe’s top strikers ahead of a big money next summer as Sporting CP host Arsenal on Tuesday night.
The Sweden striker has already scored 32 goals for club and country this season, with five of them coming in the Champions League. His form is undeniable, but the question mark hanging over the former Coventry City man is, can he translate his goal scoring from the Championship and Liga Portugal to one of the big five leagues.
The 26-year-old laid down a big marker with his hat-trick against Manchester City, although two of those goals did come from the penalty spot. Now he faces an Arsenal side that is almost back to full strength, with only Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu on the treatment table.
This is a really tricky test for the Gunners, though. Sporting are unbeaten (if you discount the Portuguese Super Cup, which we do) in all competitions have won each of their last five home games, scoring 20 goals over that run.
The north London outfit, meanwhile, have one away win in seven games on the road, which came at second-tier Preston in the EFL Cup. They’ve also taken just seven points from their opening four league phase matches; defeat here would put their chances of finishing in the top eight in peril.
On the plus side for Arsenal, the mastermind behind Sporting’s recent successes, Ruben Amorim, has pitched up at Manchester United.
Read – Arsenal predicted lineup against Sporting CP
Man City have never needed a win more than right now
What a rotten November it has been for Man City, who have not won a game since narrowly beating Southampton exactly a month. Defeat to Spurs in the EFL Cup at the end of October precipitated their worst run of form since 2006, culminating in their heaviest ever defeat at the Etihad Stadium against the same opposition in the Premier League.
The five-game losing streak is the worst of Pep Guardiola’s managerial career; you can be assured he will be dead set on preventing it becoming six defeats on the bounce. More than that, though, he needs a win on Tuesday.
Man City evidently cannot take victory for granted these days, but Feyenoord are being served up as a sacrificial lamb this midweek. At this point they would probably take a scrappy 1-0 win just to get over the hump, but what they could really do with is an absolute mauling of their Dutch opponents.
A first-half hat-trick for Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne thwacking one in from range, Phil Foden rekindling the form of last season, Savinho dancing all over the defence, and Kyle Walker having a quiet night for the first time in an age.
Feyenoord are not going to just roll over for City, but there’s no comparison between the two squads, even with Guardiola having to deal with five absences in his squad.
Read – The incredible stats from Man City’s worst home defeat in two decades
Liverpool facing battle with history against Real
Arne Slot could hardly have asked for a better start as Liverpool manager. His side are top of the Premier League with just one defeat from 12 matches and are the only team with a 100 percent record in the Champions League.
This will be a testing week for the Dutchman and his troops, though. They host Manchester City in the Premier League this weekend, but before that they welcome Real Madrid to Anfield on Wednesday night.
Reds supporters will fancy their team’s chances given their form, but history is against them. Since trouncing Los Blancos 4-0 in 2009, they’ve failed to win any of their last eight meetings, losing seven. Two of those losses have come in Champions League finals, so they will be highly motivated to gain some measure of revenge.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is likely to miss out, which is less than ideal, while Diogo Jota, Alisson, Kostas Tsimikas and Federico Chiesa are also sidelined. Real’s problems arguably run even deeper, with star man Vinicius Junior ruled out until next month with a thigh injury. Rodrygo, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Dani Carvajal, David Alaba and Èder Militão are all injured.
Kylian Mbappé has failed to reached his usual high standards since moving to the Bernabeu in the summer, although the absence of Vini Jr may work out in his favour. The France striker is likely to play in his prefered position, on the left flank.
Following consecutive heavy defeats to Barcelona and AC Milan, Madrid secured back-to-back wins in La Liga to get back on track, with Mbappé getting on the scoresheet against Leganes.
Europe’s big underperformers face off
Bayern Munich and PSG both enjoy comfortable leads at the top of their respective domestic leagues, but neither have laid down a marker in the Champions League. The German outfit have two wins and two losses, while the Parisians have just one win from four.
The table is so congested and there are so many spots to play for that things can change quickly, but defeat for either side at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday would be a huge blow.
Vincent Kompany still needs to prove his credentials as a manager at the highest level, so he cannot afford another slip-up in this competition. The stakes are even higher for Luis Enrique, who is coming under pressure for their results in Europe.
Read – PSG ready to reignite interest in Marcus Rashford transfer
Villa need to arrest slide in form
Aston Villa and Juventus are two sides with very weird starts to the season, making it difficult to gauge what level they are at.
Unai Emery’s side haven’t really convinced in their performances so far, but won their opening three games in the Champions League. Since beating Bologna on 22 October, though, they haven’t won a game in any competition.
Juventus, funnily enough, haven’t lost a game since 22 October and are unbeaten in Serie A. But they’ve drawn more games (7) than they’ve won (6) in the league, and only have seven points from four matches in the Champions League.
Picking a winner from this tie is difficult, although home advantage could be massive for Villa. This is looking like something of a must-win game for both sides, but a draw wouldn’t be the end of the world for either club.
Read – Pep Guardiola demands desire from struggling Man City
See Also – Five things we learned from the Premier League weekend
