It was a really disappointing result from Manchester United. Seeing Maguire in the starting eleven made me uncomfortable about the match immediately. Because it is like the team can't win even one match when he plays. Anyway, Ronaldo was finally in the starting eleven in a match after a long break. He found so many goal opportunities but couldn't benefit from any of them. Actually he scored one but he was caught offside by a small gap. But I wouldn't blame him for this loss of course. Because he didn't play properly until that match.

I understand Erik ten Hag's choices for this match. They needed to rotate the squad to prevent any fatigue for the crucial players before the next Premier League match. But this was still a match that could have got one point at worst. Because their first half performance and the one after conceding the goal were impressive.

This also shows how strongly Lyon performed in the second half but there was no luck. They wasted so many goal opportunities that could have been a silver lining for a comeback. Lacazette still continues to be helpful for his team by 4 goals in 6 matches. However defensive mistakes make things harder for them. Thiago Mendes made a huge mistake which resulted in a goal for Lorient for example. I knew that Lorient were in a good shape and it was going to be a difficult one for Lyon. But this was beyond the expectations.

They have another tough match in three days which is against Monaco. As it is in Monaco's stadium also they can drag down Lyon more by an upset. Monaco waited for many weeks to get their first win against Nice. They defeated Lyon 2-0 here last season and they might get a win again if they play properly. But I won't risk anything by betting on Monaco as their performance is unreliable for now. I'd prefer both teams to score @1.45.

Group A is getting more complicated day by day. Napoli's defeating Liverpool has upset the balances in the group right away. Many people expected Liverpool not to lose or even to win this match. Because they would care about the Champions League much more and be well-prepared. But it was completely the opposite after seeing that horrible defense performance. Joe Gomez was the worst player of the team and Klopp did good by replacing him at the beginning of the first half. But it was too late I'm afraid. They were already far behind their opponent and the morale of the players was gone.

Next time Liverpool are hosting Ajax. This is another very tough match. If we don't see Liverpool winning here also then their chance to qualify for next stage will go down very sharply. Of course they are the strongest team of the group on paper but the performance is the most important point in the end. Neither Ajax nor Napoli would forgive their bad form here.

I find the odds of the Ferencvaros - Trabzonspor match quite interesting. Honestly I think that Trabzonspor are a far better team than their opponent. I'm aware that Trabzonspor's recent results aren't satisfying at all. After losing points in four matches in a row they finally won a match in their league. Maybe this result could be a motivation for them to prepare well for this match. They are going to play against each other for the first time in their histories. Trabzonspor should be able to make use of their squad quality and win this match somehow. Maybe an odd like 3.25 is not credible but it is a nice choice for the people who will take a risk today.

Manchester United - Real Sociedad is the most impressive match of the day. Manchester United has a 1.62 odd for their win but I can't be very sure of it for now. Because Real Sociedad are a really unpredictable team in the Europa League. Manchester United are fully focused on getting positive results in the EPL these days so I wonder how much Erik ten Hag will care about this match. Maybe he would rotate the squad a little. Both teams to score might be a good option @1.81.

Outsiders - FTW is going to be a very easy one for Outsiders. They don't have any head-to-head history but Outsiders are far stronger than them. Outsiders defeated BIG with a really solid win by 2-0 yesterday. BIG were so desperate against them unlike my expectation. Today BIG are playing against G2 also. G2 defeated them 2-0 in BLAST Premier not much time ago and it was really comfortable on both maps. Seeing that there is no light in BIG's performance, G2 can win once again. G2 are on the rise these days. There is not much to talk about FaZe - MIBR. FaZe would destroy them 2-0 as G2 did the same yesterday.

These are the matches I'm thinking of betting on:

This is an important race for Tifosis indeed. It hasn't been a good season for Ferrari so far I'm afraid but they can at least fight for a win here. However the continuing durability problems are still a big hindrance for them. Leclerc can't keep up with Verstappen for a long time in a race. For example the previous race finished literally after 10 laps or so. Verstappen can easily open the gap with him in a short time. The latest changes by FIA helped Mercedes start to keep up with Ferrari. The latest races are a good proof for that as they were even better than Ferrari.

This week we can see another rivalry between Ferrari and Mercedes rather than a Ferrari - Red Bull one. I'm not sure about only Perez for Red Bull. Because the team gave Perez an old engine unit for the Dutch GP which caused him to fall behind too much. I don't know if they take a similar action again but I don't expect so.

About today's matches, my picks are Ajax - Tottenham wins and both teams to score for the Napoli - Liverpool match.

The total odd is 3.62 which is pretty good for a multi. Rangers are not a team to be underestimated of course but Ajax are in a way better condition than them now. Even though they have made many changes in their squad this season they are standing still against their opponents. They are one of the successful Champions League teams considering the recent years. Rangers don't have much chance get some points in Amsterdam.

Tottenham have started the season pretty well. They are one of the strong Premier League teams with their game. Marseille are also doing good but they haven't faced any real challenge yet. Their opponents in the Ligue 1 have already been easy for them. This is their first ever meet with Tottenham in their history. Tottenham wouldn't miss the opportunity to beat them in England.

Lastly it is really hard to pick a side for Napoli - Liverpool. Things haven't gone well for Klopp and his players so far. Of course they are a way more experienced team than Napoli in the Champions League. However I still remember their previous two matches in this stadium which ended by victories for Napoli. Taking Napoli's good start to this season I thought that it would be safer to trust both sides to score at least one goal.

Of course, why not?

Maybe the last champion was a big team like Roma but we can see a more unexpected team to reach the title this time as well. I accept that West Ham weren't very impressive in the Europa League last season. I didn't like them against Frankfurt in the semi final. However their performance in the Premier League this season has been terrible so far. They might not even qualify for the Conference League. Maybe this can push them to play better here and fight for the Conference League title. But we will wait and see their passion.

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Considering the first week matches, I'm thinking of adding Villarreal (1.26), Anderlecht (1.60) and West Ham (1.18) wins to my betslip. I'm hesitating about only Anderlecht because they didn't start great to the Jupiler League. They got only 10 points in 7 matches and they can't win for three weeks. But hopefully they would use this match as an opportunity to boost the morale. It really isn't easy to make the right choices at the beginning. 

Chelsea have officially sacked Thomas Tuchel!

After losing to Dinamo Zagreb in the Champions League last night he is no longer Chelsea's coach. This was very sudden honestly. I don't know why Todd Boehly didn't want to give him more time. You shouldn't sack a coach just for getting unsatisfying results for a few weeks. We are talking about a coach which made the team champions in the Champions League not much time ago. All teams can have good and bad times. Tuchel's credit shouldn't have been this much low for the team. Besides we are only at the beginning of the season. This is too early to make a decision about whether to sack a coach or not. I hope this doesn't hurt the team much more while they are in search of a new coach.

https://www.transfermarkt.com/official-chelsea-sack-head-coach-tuchel/view/news/410932

Thank you for the update mate!

Vitality are the most attention getting team in top 10 obviously. But this is no surprise for any of us. They have improved their performance too much after their transfer move for Spinx in the end. They even finished a group in which there is NaVi also as the leader. Of course there is still a huge point difference among the first two teams and the third team in the ranking. But it is still good to see there are some changes in the ranks near FaZe and NaVi. By the way the reason why NaVi lost their lead must be related to their poor performance in the ESL Pro League so far. Depending on FaZe's effort things might change once again.

Great work by Liquid too! Just look at their ranking development in the recent years. It is an insane recovery indeed.

One loss wouldn't ruin Arsenal's form. Arteta has built a really strong team for this season. New transfers are able to show the expected level of performance so far as well. Manchester United were the biggest challenge for them after those comfortable matches and they failed I'm afraid. But Manchester United are playing much more different against the biggest teams of the league these days. First Liverpool now Arsenal. Maybe they will even do the same to Manchester City also in Old Trafford.

My point is that we still need to see Arsenal's performance against the other big teams of the league later. It will help us have a better idea about how successful they can be this season. So far they have been much stronger than their performance in the previous season. Fans are very hopeful about their team to finish the season in top four at least.

You can find Perez's incident by this link: https://youtu.be/Fw0-51X0t8I?t=90

It was also really dangerous for everyone. Perez's tyre would have blown out and his race would have turned into a nightmare first of all. Or someone would have got hurt also of course. I really don't understand how Ferrari can be this much preoccupied in the race. They aren't hurting only themselves. They are dangerous for others also.

I'm pretty sure that we will see so many people getting sacked before the next season. I hope there won't be another fiasco after new people come to the team. They need a very skilled group of people like Red Bull have. I haven't seen Red Bull making big mistakes for a long time. Their pits are still flawless for example.

NaVi surprised most people and lost the match by 1-2. It is really shocking to me because NIP were in a way worse form actually. Maybe having one last chance was like a motivation for them I don't know. But still the usual NaVi wouldn't let them win that easy normally. Incredible performances by NIP on Inferno and Overpass indeed. REZ and Brollan were the players who had the biggest roles in these wins on both maps statistically.



Of course this wasn't enough for NIP to remain in the tournament as there were many variables needed to happen for them to do this. The results of the other matches didn't end the way they'd like. It must be a very scary loss for NaVi because Spirit could have taken their place in the last moment. Vitality didn't let them by a strong performance and beat them 2-0. NaVi must really be thankful for them. However NaVi need to find a solution to this bad form. They completed the group stage with 2 wins and 3 losses. Otherwise they might be eliminated much earlier than the expected.

Such a great performance by the Manchester side today!

I preferred both teams to score option for this match and I watched the match comfortably. I was thinking that Manchester United would win also if they play similar to the Liverpool match. They really did this again. This was Rashford's day without a doubt. He scored 2 goals and made an assist also. Since his boss started to give him chances in the starting eleven he has been doing a superb work. De Gea really has insane reflexes by the way. That save against Martinelli's header was lovely.    Seeing Antony starting great by a goal feels nice. Manchester United agreed on this transfer for a 100 million euro fee in the end. He is going to be under pressure quite much.

After that poor start Manchester United are impressing everyone by defeating their biggest rivals one by one recently. It looks like ten Hag's system started to work well for them finally. They have a 4-win streak now but they need to be consistent in most of the season to be able to fulfill expectations nicely.

It was another disastrous day for Ferrari.

What was that with Sainz's pits, man? First they forgot about one tyre and after that there was an unsafe release resulted in a 5-sec penalty. I really don't know what this team want from their drivers. How can you make this easy mistakes throughout the season? Binotto needs to change his crew completely after this season ends. Neither Ferrari nor a Ferrari driver can become champions in the future otherwise.

It was another great day for Mercedes. Russell had a great race by finishing in 2nd place. He is still the most consistent driver on the grid also. Hamilton could have been on podium also but the team made a big mistake with the tyres in pit. Leclerc couldn't even keep up with Russell in the last laps. Mercedes are really getting ahead of Ferrari slowly these days.

The only maps that NIP are better than NaVi are Inferno and Vertigo indeed. Ancient is neutral for the sides so I think this map is very likely to be picked by one of the sides. But considering the probable bans and picks, NIP are going to be very disadvantageous anyway.

Besides, NIP have a very low chance to create their second chance by this match even if they win. Because NIP's total round difference in the group is -37 now. The closest team that they need to get past are NaVi which have a 12 round difference in total. NIP must defeat NaVi by a huge difference which is the only way for them to perform a miracle today. I think there is no chance for this. I don't think NaVi would leave their job to chance here. So NaVi win can be added to the betslips @1.23.

We watched two different halves in the Twente - PSV match today.

PSV were so ineffective in the first half that this poor effort helped Twente capture a 2-0 advantage already. In the second half, Twente tried to maintain this score until the final whistle and PSV found so many chances to make a comeback. But they couldn't do more than scoring one goal only. To tell the truth I'm not surprised with PSV's losing points here. My expectation was a draw actually but PSV couldn't find the equalizer. I know that most of you were confident about a PSV victory. But Twente were like a team that would be able to slow them down after that great start. They were already not losing to PSV for some years in this stadium. Hence I decided to stay away from betting on PSV for this match. I'm glad that I did it.  

This is the updated starting grid which has been confirmed by the Formula 1 official Twitter account.

I really don't understand what FIA are after now. If Verstappen has really changed his gearbox then he should get a grid penalty for this like it happened in the previous race to him and many other drivers. I don't think that they were able to repair the gearbox as it seemed like a serious problem. This is a big advantage handed over to Verstappen in the race tomorrow. If he has no issue with his car now then it seems a far possibility to see him staying behind Leclerc. He was already quicker than Leclerc in qualifying. It is difficult for Leclerc to win if Ferrari don't have special plans for this race.

The Merseyside derby was really delightful even though there was no goal at the end. Everton missed a huge chance to get their first win. It was a really unlucky moment for them that their goal was disallowed due to a very slight offside. Tom Davies also wasted a big opportunity as his shot came back from the post. Liverpool also had so many important goal chances. I remember three of their shots bounced off the goal post. It'd have been even the goal of the week if Pickford didn't save Nunez's rocket. I really liked Pickford's effort today as he had a big role in not losing the match.

Liverpool lost 9 points in 6 weeks which is terrible. Klopp still doesn't seem that he's found a way to put an end to most of their struggles. They have no problem with finding so many goal chances but they are somehow having a difficulty in scoring the winning goal comfortably.

What a dominance by Real Madrid in the Champions League!

In the last nine seasons they won the title five times. They won three times in a row between the years of 2015 and 2017. We started to see some different champions after 2017 but last season ended up with another championship for Real Madrid. They didn't even become the champions this many times in the La Liga in the same time period. So I'm curious if this dominance will be finished by a team in the near future. Maybe this season can be a start for that. Real Madrid would easily advance from their group undoubtedly. But after that I would like to see them facing especially Manchester City. Because it feels like they might be the only team that can really stop them this season. They were nearly doing it last season if there wasn't any miraculous comeback by Real Madrid.