Sports Blog 23/10/2018: UEFA Champions League Preview – Man United vs Juventus/Shakhtar Donetsk vs Man City, Tuesday 23rd October 2018

How will a miserable Man United cope with the presence of Ronaldo when they host Juventus in Tuesday’s Champions League tie, at 8pm on BT Sport 2?

With things reaching a fever pitch at Old Trafford before the international break, it looked like Jose Mourinho was going to muster the best possible response on Saturday. Overcoming Antonio Rudiger’s first half opener thanks to a second half brace from Antony Martial, United were heading for a 2-1 victory over the unbeaten Chelsea. And then Ross Barkley equalised in the 96th minute, chaos erupted at the touchline, and another United fixture ended in controversy.



Not the best prep for a game against a yet-to-lose Juve. The defending Serie A champions already have a 4 point lead at the top of the table, winning their first 8 games before drawing against Genoa at the weekend, while in Europe they’ve beaten Valencia and Young Boys without conceding a single goal. Ronaldo is their top scorer with, for him, a relatively meagre 5 goals, and heads into Tuesday night at a Super Mega PGM of 35-41; in comparison, Romelu Lukaku is at 22-27.

Given that the hosts have only won at home twice this season in all competitions, it’s not too surprising that Spreadex are offering a Juventus/Man United (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 0.05-0.25 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.25-2.45.

Elsewhere, the UK’s less-troubled Manchester side are off to Ukraine, as City take on Shakhtar Donetsk at 8pm on BT Sport 3. While they may be sat on the same 23 points as Liverpool in the Premier League, there is one rather big different between City and the Reds; the former have scored 26 goals to the latter’s 16, their latest romp being a 5-0 victory over Burnley on Saturday. Best of all that game featured 5 separate names on the score sheet, including Sergio Aguero, who has a Super Mega PGM of 66-76, and Leroy Sane, at 30-36.



Yet that confidence has been curiously absent in the Champions League. They suffered a shock home loss to Lyon in their opener, and then only narrowly beat Hoffenheim in Germany, a 2-1 victory courtesy of an 81st minute winner from David Silva.

As for Shakhtar, their season has echoes of City’s. In the Ukrainian Premier League they’re sat top of the table with a hefty 31 goals scored. But in Europe things have been frustrating, with a pair of 2-2 draws, the most recent against Lyon seeing Shakhtar giving up a 2-0 lead. They might not get anywhere on Tuesday, either, with Spreadex offering a Man City/Shakhtar (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 1.55-1.75 alongside a Total Goals spread of 3.2-3.4.