City have another tough away trip to Brighton on Saturday.

It is not entirely clear who Guardiola will have available but he will be desperate to avoid a fourth straight reverse.

For Silva, it is a tough time.

“It’s difficult to find the reasons why what is happening to us now,” he said. “In seven and a half seasons, I don’t remember three in a row.

“We’re in a dark place. Everything looks to be going the wrong way.

“The good thing is even though we lost three games we’re in good positions in the Premier League and Champions League. We’re still fighting for everything, but we need to do better. It’s just not good enough at the minute.”

City are second in the Premier League, two points behind leaders Liverpool but four clear of third-placed Nottingham Forest and sixth in the expanded Champions League table.

However, they are likely to drop outside the top eight when the second set of matches in the fourth round of fixtures are played.

Nevertheless, at least they are competing, unlike Manchester United, which Guardiola pointed out when he was asked about the prospect of coming up against Ruben Amorim when he moves in at Old Trafford next week.

“Yes, he will be United manager and we will face him two times in the Premier League and maybe the FA Cup. In the Champions League it is not possible.”

Maybe the third time could be the charm for Tracy Cortez and Miranda Maverick.

Just over a month away from the upcoming UFC Tampa card on Dec. 14, Cortez has been forced out of her scheduled fight against Maverick. It’s the second time the fight was scheduled and then scrapped with Cortez being pulled from the previous matchup when she got a short notice opportunity to face Rose Namajunas at the UFC Denver card in July.

This time around Cortez pulled out of the fight with an undisclosed injury with multiple people close to the situation confirming the news to MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck on Tuesday. MMA Junkie initially reported the change to the fight.

With Cortez out, the search is underway to find an opponent for Maverick but a new fight hasn’t been determined yet.

Maverick is looking to build on a three-fight win streak after scoring victories over Dione Barbosa, Andrea Lee and Priscila Cachoeira in consecutive appearances.

Unfortunately she’ll now have to shift her attention to a new opponent with Cortez unable to compete at the upcoming card in Tampa, which serves as the final UFC event for 2024.

IN-BOUND Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim was given a heroes send-off in his last game in charge of Sporting Lisbon.

The 39-year-old starts life in Old Trafford next week after replacing Erik ten Hag.

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But before he could say goodbye, he had to lead Sporting out one more time against United’s rivals City at the Jose Alvalade Stadium.

The home crowed unveiled a banner to commemorate Amorim and the two league titles he won in Lisbon before kick off.

And despite Phil Foden’s opener on four minutes, Sporting hit back to send Amorim off with a 4-1 victory.

Star striker Viktor Gyokeres got a hat-trick amid rumours it may not be the last time he lines up under Amorim.

And Amorim – who spent four years in Lisbon – was given a guard of honour and some celebratory bumps after the match.

But the farewell was so jubilant that he nearly came crashing down after being tossed in the air.

Gyokeres, 26, has become instantly linked with a move to United and the forward paid respect to his departing manager following victory over City.

He said: “We will miss him a lot. We’ve done amazing things together. We will miss him and the other guys in the staff who will leave.

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“We have to look forward and attack the next challenge ahead of us.”

Amorim also ended City’s 26-game unbeaten run in the Champions League as a parting gift to Sporting.

It made for the perfect send-off for Amorim, who will officially start work at United next week.

Amorim, who also took a long lap of honour after the game, said: “Those who were here and have seen Sporting over the last four years deserved a night like this. It was very special.

“But we shouldn’t stop here, it shouldn’t be a one-off.

“It was special in the circumstances but we have to think about the next match against Braga.

“Perhaps it was written in the stars we should end this way. I will keep these memories forever but I cannot enjoy them fully yet.”

Ahead of kick-off the Sporting fans unfurled an enormous banner to give him a memorable send-off.

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It featured an illustration of Amorim with his arms folded, as well as the five trophies he won as Sporting boss.

The banner read “Obrigado” – Portuguese for “thank you”.

Amorim joined Sporting as boss in 2020 following a season at Braga.

As their boss he won two league titles, two domestic cups and one Super Cup.

He will take charge of his final game in charge away to his former side Braga on Sunday.

Ruben Amorim is ‘Mourinho 2.0’ who turned Sporting from ‘walking dead’ into Portuguese champs… he can revive Man Utd

WHEN Ruben Amorim took charge of Sporting Lisbon in March 2020, one club official compared their situation to the “walking dead”, writes Jordan Davies.

Optimism and hope was at an all-time low.

But the Amorim-effect was almost instantaneous, guiding the Portuguese sleeping giants to their first league title for 19 years in 2020/21, losing just once and only conceding 20 goals.

Since then, Sporting have lifted another league title in 2023/24 – as well as two League Cups – and currently sit top with nine wins from nine this term.

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He may be young, but Amorim already has an eye for rebuilding and revitalising fallen super powers with his infectious charisma and intense tactical philosophy that hardly ever wavers. 

The “walking dead” at Manchester United must be praying for a similar sort of revival.

And they may just get it from one of the most talented young coaches on the continent – a man accustomed to breathing new life back into crumbling institutions such as Old Trafford.

Amorim has spent the last decade dreaming of one day gracing England’s Premier League, such was his admiration for an ex-United boss in Jose Mourinho growing up.

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Often nicknamed ‘Mourinho 2.0’, Amorim spent a week with his coaching idol in an internship capacity at United’s Carrington training base in 2018, going on to cite him as his “reference point”.

United should not be expecting a mini-Mourinho, as Amorim said himself: “Mourinho is one of a kind. There won’t be another Mourinho. Mourinho is unique.”

And yet, you cannot help but compare the two.

For all the mismanagement in the Old Trafford hot seats over the years, this would be a real get – finally a slap in the face United’s Prem rivals have no answer for.

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He did walk towards the Kop to deliver a wave to the Liverpool fans who still adore him after applauding his own supporters, but this was a chastening night for Alonso, a night for the home supporters not to wonder about what might have been, but to revel in what they have under Slot.

Alonso did try to impart local knowledge to his players, constantly gesturing with his palms flat towards the floor calling for calm and composure. It worked a treat in a deadly dull first half but lost its impact as Liverpool ran riot once they had broken Bayer Leverkusen’s resistance.

Slot has made an outstanding start at Liverpool, his almost under-the-radar approach reflected in his polite celebrations after the final whistle blows, in sharp contrast to the fist-pumping antics and wild animation of the man who went before him.

If Slot has one issue to address, it might be that he should give his half-time team talk before the kick-off as Liverpool, for their outstanding record this season, can be slow starters.

Liverpool put themselves in a tough spot as they trailed Brighton at half-time at Anfield on Saturday before winning 2-1, once again looking listless and lifeless until the spark was provided by Diaz’s deadlock-breaker after 61 minutes.

In all competitions this season, Liverpool have scored 22 goals in the second half compared to 15 in the first, having 147 shots in the first half against 97 in the first. They have had 66 shots on target in the second half compared to 44 in the first.

Liverpool followed the pattern again here as Bayer Leverkusen keeper Lukas Hradecky was untroubled for 45 minutes before suddenly coming under the siege that brought four second-half goals.

Slot said: “I don’t know if it was that much to do with intensity but we took more risk. They overloaded the midfield a lot and we adjusted and took the risk to play one v one all over. And you also sometimes have to give credit to the opposition.

“I would love to see this from the start, but the other team then normally has intensity too. What I like is until now we keep producing this energy and keep going to a higher gear. Preferably we would start like this from the start but, as I said, we have to give credit to the opponent.”

Alonso was certainly in the mood to give credit to Liverpool, saying: “It is early to tell but I can see Liverpool have a very good balance, a very complete team. They work the 11 players and have the power to keep a clean sheet, which is important in the Champions League. In the Premier League, let’s see. It is early to tell but it is looking good for them.

“The result is painful. The performance is more painful. We lacked some power and consistency. Defeat, accept it, congratulate Liverpool and move on. I will try to separate the pain from the result from the feelings of coming back and having love. I’m really thankful to have that reception.”

Few could have a more seamless transition than Slot, with no Liverpool fans pining for the possibilities offered by Alonso any longer.

Slot does not agree that things have been easy, however, saying: “Not at all. If you only look at results, but Brighton was a difficult one, we were 1-0 behind and had to fight really hard. We have to play hard and work with really high intensity.

“Anfield is the best place to play, so every team that comes here is on the top of their game. If we can keep producing high intensity then we will keep winning and that is what we want.”

And Slot’s Liverpool continue to give Liverpool’s fans exactly what they want.