It’s been a truly miserable season for both Tottenham and Manchester United and it can only get worse when both clubs are bounced out of the Europa League at the quarter-final stage.
The early exit will have seismic reactions, especially at Spurs where manager Ange Postecoglou could be a dead man walking even if his team secures a place in next season’s Champions League by winning the final.
Tottenham head to Eintracht Frankfurt needing a victory by hook, crook or penalty shoot-out to advance after being held to a 1-1 draw in N17 last Thursday when they were denied victory by the woodwork, a series of outstanding saves from goalkeeper Kaua Santos and some bad luck.
After falling behind to a goal in the sixth minute, Tottenham actually played some of their best football for some time but their form away from home has been abysmal this season both domestically and in Europe.
In fact, their 4-2 defeat at Wolves in the Premier League summed up their travels, falling behind through poor defensive errors, fighting their way back into the game then shooting themselves in the foot through further lapses of concentration.
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Manchester United apparently watched that wretched display, heard the untold criticism aimed at their rivals, then asked someone to hold their beer while they duly turned in an even worse show in their 4-1 thumping at Newcastle.
They have home advantage when Lyon visit Old Trafford also needing to win after being held to a 2-2 draw in the first leg in France where they benefited from a couple of howlers from United goalkeeper Andre Onana.
Ruben Amorim’s side are 3/1 with Coral, Betway, bet365, StarSports, BetMGM and Unibet to go into extra-time when the final whistle blows and Lyon are 9/4 to qualify, probably on penalties, with the last two firms.
Spurs are 11/4 with StarSports, BetMGM and Unibet to draw in Frankfurt which will probably leave them weighing up the options to be their next manager before Nottingham visit for Easter Monday Night Football.
Chelsea, 3-0 up, are 17/20 with StarSports to beat Polish side Legia HT/FT in their Europa Conference League quarter-final second leg at Stamford Bridge.
• Masters champion Rory McIlroy is absent but 56 of his rivals at Augusta are competing in the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head this week, including defending champion Scottie Scheffler.
While McIlroy was completing his career Grand Slam in the most chaotic yet exhilarating of fashions, Scheff was quietly coming slightly off the pace to finish fourth, just three shots behind play-off pair McIlroy and Justin Rose.
It’s safe to assume he’ll soon be pretty much back to his best and he is 4/1 with Sporting Index, StarSports, BetMGM and others to successfully defend a title at the fourth attempt this year.
Meanwhile, this week’s each-way bets are Patrick Cantlay and Corey Conners at 22/1 and 25/1 with William Hill and Sepp Straka at 33/1 with Ladbrokes and Coral.
• Surrey have made a solid start to the County Championship and are 6/4 with Betfred to win the title for a fourth straight season and 23rd time overall.