Mark Langdon: Manchester City and Real Madrid are not producing fireworks

Remember, remember you don't win the Champions League or a league title in November, but the early-season performances of Manchester City and Real Madrid must be a concern for their backers.

Everything is relative, and both teams sit second in their domestic leagues and still have a possible 13 Champions League matchdays ahead of them. So there is more than enough time to turn the tide, but City and Real Madrid are far from producing the kind of firework football that justifies their position as first and second in the betting markets for Europe's top prize.

City are notorious for rocketing through the gears as the season progresses and writing them off is a dangerous pastime, but they head to Brighton following three straight losses for the first time since April 2018. It's not the results that should be of too much concern to Pep Guardiola but their defensive performances are out of kilter.

Rodri's long-term injury absence is an obvious blow, as is captain Kyle Walker's sudden and dramatic loss of form. They allowed seven shots on target in the League Cup exit at Tottenham and lost the expected-goals count to both Bournemouth and Sporting in subsequent defeats.

The belief is Guardiola will find a solution because Guardiola always finds a solution, but City's performances are nowhere near normal. They also lost the xG battle in the recent draw at Newcastle and, more alarmingly, in the 3-2 win over Fulham, who created an xG of 2.6. It was not particularly pretty when they beat Brentford 2-1 and John Stones was needed to pop up with last-gasp goals to draw with ten-man Arsenal and scrape past winless Wolves.  

It's a fascinating time for City, who have away dates with Brighton, Liverpool, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa as well as home games against Spurs, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United before Christmas in the Premier League, while their current tenth spot in the Champions League table is made more interesting by forthcoming fixtures at Paris St-Germain and Juventus.

Rumours remain about Guardiola's future and he needs to guard against an end-of-era drift if City are to oblige as Premier League and Champions League favourites.

There is also a final-curtain vibe to Real Madrid, and having been at the Bernabeu on Tuesday to witness their 3-1 defeat to Milan, it was easy to see how the pressure has been ramped up on Carlo Ancelotti. The word on the Madrid street is that Xabi Alonso is being lined up for next season and Carlito is set to be sent on his way.

Madrid had ten shots on target against Milan, but also allowed nine, and the balance of the team is dreadfully lacking with Jude Bellingham shifted out to left midfield, and Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe both wanting to be the main man. 

Mbappe's arrival has added an extra world-class attacker to the mix, but he is not known for his defensive duties and the team is being totally overrun in midfield. Milan played through them at will, while Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund had seven shots on target each at the Bernabeu even in defeat. 

Madrid, who also lost at Lille, sit 18th in the Champions League table and head to Liverpool next. This new Galacticos team need to show there is more sparkle than just hype.

Prop bet shock for States

The gaming board of Illinois this week announced they will join Michigan, Indiana and Ohio by agreeing to the NFL's request to offer fewer prop bets amid concerns over the integrity of the sport.

Among the markets the NFL suggested cutting are the outcome of the first play (run or pass), whether a kicker makes a field goal or extra point and whether the first pass of the game by a quarterback will be incomplete.

There were reports last year that the Football Association had asked bookmakers to stop betting on the popular player to be carded markets and it will be interesting to see if pressure is cranked up in this area given the NFL's success of clamping down on props, particularly those where an individual has more power to influence an outcome.

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