Reds run of flops a big worry ahead of Maribor tie
WE look ahead to some of today’s Champions League matches: the 2014-15 Champions League group stage and Tottenham Hotspur in the 2012-13 Europa League, before beating Wigan Athletic the following season.
Manchester City (Eng) v Napoli (It) Pep Guardiola’s Premier League pace-setters lock horns with Serie A frontrunners Napoli as Manchester City attempt to make it three wins from three in the section. The Italians suffered an opening setback to Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine, but Maurizio Sarri’s side have swept aside allcomers in Italy – their 1-0 win at Roma on Saturday stretched their winning run in the league to eight matches.
In England, City pulled two points clear of Manchester United at the top following a 7-2 demolition of Stoke City achieved without Sergio Aguero, who was left on the bench after recovering from a broken rib suffered in a car crash in Amsterdam last month. City became the first English top-flight team to score 29 goals in their first eight league games since Everton in 1894. Napoli have never won in England in five previous trips.
Feyenoord (Ned) v Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukra)
Dutch champions Feyenoord must regroup quickly to avoid a premature end to their European adventure following defeats by Manchester City and Napoli. Their league form has also tailed off dramatically after kicking off the season with four straight wins – Saturday’s 0-0 draw at home to Zwolle marked the third time in four outings they had failed to score. Shakhtar were unbeaten in 27 away games before losing to City three weeks ago, while their track record against Dutch opposition is awful with four defeats in as many matches. Group G: Leipzig (Ger) v Porto (Por) A tough third outing for debutants RB Leipzig who are seeking their first win in the competition. Their Portuguese rivals won the title in 2004 and come calling on the back of an impressive 3-0 win over last season’s semifinalists Monaco that has left them second in the group. The match reunites Leipzig striker Timo Werner, who scored twice in Germany’s 3-1 defeat of Cameroon in July’s Confederations Cup, with his Porto opposite number Vincent Aboubakar, who got the African champions’ goal that day and who last week signed a new deal tieing him to Porto until 2021. Leipzig beat Borussia Dortmund at the weekend, with Porto held to a goalless stalemate by Sporting Lisbon in their domestic Liga. — AFP