Porto represent a tough start for Sean Dyche’s tenure as Forest boss

Former Toffees boss Sean Dyche has plenty to chew on as the new Forest head coach (Picture: Getty Images)

All eyes will be on the City Ground as Sean Dyche begins his tenure as Nottingham Forest ’s third manager this season and his baptism of fire in a Europa League tussle with Porto is unlikely to be pretty watching for home fans expecting a swift turnaround.

In fact, there may be little immediate difference from Ange Postecoglou ’s ill-fated 39-day reign, with the Tricky Trees facing a testing trip to Bournemouth when their Premier League fixtures resume on Sunday before they face Manchester United on the banks of the Trent the following weekend.

Former Everton and Burnley boss Dyche has been brought in to solidify a defence which has conceded eight goals in its last three matches, including the 3-0 home defeat to Chelsea which cost Big Ange his job and the 3-2 reverse to visiting FC Midtylland in the outing before that.

Forest’s best performance under ex-Celtic and Tottenham coach Postecoglou was their opening Europa League foray when they drew 2-2 at Real Betis but they will be  hard-pressed to gain maximum points against Porto, who have won ten of their 11 matches this season with the only exception being a 0-0 draw at home to Benfica before the international break.

The Primeira leaders returned action with a 4-0 victory against fourth-placed Celoricense in the Portuguese Cup at the weekend when Spain international Samu Aghehowa took his tally for the season to eight with a second-half hat-trick.

He is 6/1 with Paddy Power, Betfair, Unibet and Sky Bet to open the scoring and 9/4 with the later to make the net bulge at any time while a recalled Chris Wood is 17/10 with Ladbrokes, Coral and Paddy Power to score Forest’s first goal of the Dyche era.

Porto are 2/1 with Hills and bet365 to win and 9/2 with the same firms and BoyleSports to prevail with both team scoring. A 2-1 away success is 17/2 with bet365, Sporting Index and SpreadEx.

John McGinn can register his fourth goal of the season (Picture: Action Images via Reuters)

Midlands neighbours Aston Villa can build on Sunday’s 2-1 success at Tottenham by winning their Europa League adventure in the Netherlands against Go Ahead Eagles by more than one goal at 4/1 with Betfred and Sky Bet. John McGinn is the same price to score with the latter company.

Switching from the Dutch Eagles to the ones who roost at Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace will enjoy a comfortable Conference League success against AEK Larnaca with Jean-Philippe Mateta 11/4 with bet365 to follow Saturday’s hat-trick in the 3-3 draw at home to Bournemouth with the opening goal this time around. He is 8/13 with the same firm to score at any time and the Stoke-based firm go 8/11 Palace win to nil.

Leeds United can pile further misery on West Ham by winning their Friday night contest at Elland Road at 10/11 with Betfred. The Hammers were shocking in Monday’s 2-0 defeat at home to Brentford and could easily have conceded five or six and the hosts are 6/1 with bet365 to win by over 2.5 goals. Joel Piroe is 5/1 with the same firm and BoyleSports to open the scoring and 9/4 with BetMGM to hit the net at any time.

Shohei Ohtani produced the best postseason performance ever, including Babe Ruth a century ago, when he struck out ten and hit three home runs to clinch a clean sweep for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Milwaukee Brewers and keep them on track to become the first team to retain the World Series since the 1998-2000 New York Yankees.

The Dodgers are evens with bet365 to win game one on their way to retaining their crown and they are 13/4 with the same firm to win the best-of-seven Fall Classic against the Toronto Blue Jays 4-1.

Japanese phenomenon Ohtani, who easily rubs shoulders with United States sporting legends like Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Tom Brady and Wayne Gretzky, is 7/4 with Betway, Paddy Power and Sky Bet to be the MVP.