February will be a month of wonders for football enthusiasts with an eye on the UEFA Champions League Round of 16, where a cracker of a match will be played between AC Milan and Tottenham Hotspurs.
Join us as we dive into the history between these two clubs in an attempt to outline what might unfold inside San Siro on February 14 at 21:00 GMT.
AC MILAN
AC Milan has definitely seen better days when it comes to player injuries. At the time of writing, eight players occupy a spot in the infirmary, which is joked to have become AC Milan’s unofficial home stadium. With fixtures still yet to start rolling in, Stefano Pioli will have to keep spirits high if he wants his side to bridge the gap between Napoli at the top of the table. With a stellar Rafael Leao at top form and the return of Alexis Saelemaekers and Davide Calabria, AC Milan fans can rest assured that all hope is not lost on their side holding its own in this UCL stand-off.
The last time AC Milan hosted Tottenham Hotspur ended up being a fiery, albeit cagey, contest that was decided by Peter Crouch. A repeat of that game could very well be in the cards, seeing how a rather young and inexperienced AC Milan side has struggled against big teams in the UCL ever since returning to the competition after an eight-year drought last season. Specifically, English clubs have been a constant thorn in the side of the Serie A champions, with Liverpool and Chelsea beating AC Milan in both home and away fixtures during this and the past UCL campaign, respectively.
LV BET is pricing the goals scored to be Under 2.50 at 9/11 (1.82), with both teams not to score at 21/20 (2.05). AC Milan to keep a clean sheet until half-time is valued at 7/10 (1.7).
TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS
A lacklustre season so far still has Tottenham Hotspurs gunning for a UCL spot. With Antonio Conte breathing down the board’s neck for new multimillion-dollar signings, speculation of friction between the two has been rife—to date, the Italian’s contract being renewed seems unlikely. Nevertheless, a last-gasp Hojbjerg goal against Marseille catapulted Spurs to the top of UCL Group D, fixing them up for a Round of 16 fixture of the highest order. Conte and ‘a good UCL run’ aren’t phrases that usually belong in the same sentence, but perhaps, a change to that might be on the horizon.
Tottenham’s top-scorer in the UCL is none other than Harry Kane, with a total of 21 goals in his career thus far. His tally for this season stands at just one goal—a penalty converted against Eintracht Frankfurt—which means that the Spurs skipper will be looking to rifle in a goal or two against AC Milan. Fikayo Tomori and Pierre Kalulu aren’t ones to allow opposing strikers much freedom in the box, which means that a game of physical duels awaits the England star. It is all up to Heung-min Son and Bryan Gil, manoeuvred by the Italian tactician, to create the space needed for Kane to fit in a goal or two.
Tottenham Hotspurs to score exactly one goal in the first half is at 41/20 (3.05), whereas both teams to score in the second half is valued at 7/3 (3.35). LV BET is also pricing Tottenham to win both halves at 10.00 (11.00).
LV BET
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*Odds subject to change. Odds correct at time of publishing