Mixed fortunes expected in Manchester as Champions League gets underway

Manchester City couldn’t have hoped for a better start as they attempt to make it back-to-back trebles, winning all five of their opening Premier League matches to sit two points clear of the chasing pack. Their odds to win the league have predictably been slashed from 5/6 to 2/5, translating into an increase from a 55% to a 72% chance of securing another league title.
And the City juggernaut is expected to carry on rolling ominously forward in the Champions League, if the betting sites featured on https://bookmakers.tv/ are to be believed.
The most likely result in tonight’s game at home to Crvena Zvezda is a comfortable 3-0 victory, while even an 8-0 demolition (best priced at 60/1) is seen as more likely than a 1-0 defeat (100/1). Predictably, it’s Erling Haaland who is seen as most likely to cause the damage, with the Norwegian no bigger than 2/7 to find the back of the net and only 4/1 to really run riot with another Champions League hat-trick.
The entire group stage is expected to be a cakewalk which should allow Pep Guardiola a chance to rest players once qualification is secured. RB Leipzig are priced up to be City’s biggest challengers, but the Germans were hammered 7-0 by City as recently as March so are unlikely to cause any sleepless nights.
If the outlook is rosy on one side of Manchester, the story couldn’t be more different across the city. Manchester United have struggled all season, losing three of their first five matches, and their hopes of another top four finish already look unlikely. A trip to the Allianz Arena is hardly the place to regain confidence and form, with United 5/1 for a shock away victory.
The medium-term outlook looks a tad brighter for ten Hag’s floundering team, given they remain odds on to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages ahead of Galatasaray and FC Copenhagen. Hopes of a run to the latter stages of Europe’s premier club competition remain unlikely though. United are 25/1 outsiders to be celebrating at Wembley come June, in comparison to City who are 9/4 favourites to take home a second Champions League trophy.