Tottenham's Champions League knockout campaign gets underway on Tuesday night at AC Milan. George Gamble previews the game and picks a best bet.
Spurs were torn apart by Leicester City at the weekend, but on the European stage they’ll be desperate to put in a much-improved performance and pile even more pressure onto Milan boss Stefano Pioli.
There’s a subplot to this round-of-16 San Siro encounter: former Juventus and Inter Milan boss Antonio Conte returns to Italy in charge of the visitors and he’ll be desperate to secure a positive outcome here.
It promises to be an exciting clash, with Milan successfully hitting the back of the net in 13 of their 14 home games played in Serie A and the UCL this season.
Kick-off time: 20:00 GMT, Tuesday
TV channel: BT Sport 1
However, they haven’t looked assured defensively and fans have become quite vocal about their annoyance with Pioli’s reluctance to put faith in some of their younger stars.
The Rossoneri kept their first clean sheet in eight Serie A matches at the weekend when they secured a narrow 1-0 victory over Torino, but they’ll need to raise their game if they’re to contain Harry Kane and co.
It’s always tough to predict which Spurs side we will see. Will it be the one that was formidable in transition when they beat Manchester City, or will it be the one that looked defensively inept and conceded four goals against the Foxes?
Either way, neither of these defences can be trusted to keep their opposition at bay and it seems as though both of these sides will have plenty of chances to get in on the scoring act.
According to Infogol’s expected goals (xG) table, in the group stages, AC Milan posted 5.6 xG on home soil but were able to notch seven goals, highlighting their efficiency in front of goal.
Both of these sides have underperformed on occasion domestically, but this competition represents a good chance to build some momentum on the biggest stage in club football and we can expect goals here.
The pair will get their chances and are much more comfortable in the attacking phases and so BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE looks the standout selection.
AC Milan v Tottenham best bets and score prediction
- 2pts Both Teams to Score at 3/4 (General)
Correct score: AC Milan 2-1 Tottenham (Sky Bet odds: 8/1)
Odds correct at 1630 GMT (13/02/23)
More from Sporting Life
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
