AC Milan vs Liverpool
Seven-time Champions League winners AC Milan face a fierce fight to extend their stay in this year’s competition. The Italians, who are in last place in Group B, need to beat visiting Liverpool and hope that Porto and Atletico Madrid draw in order to go through to the knockout stage.
Their Champions League 2021 betting odds to beat Liverpool, who are still perfect in the group stage with five wins out of five, should be much-improved though, with the Reds likely to field a heavily rotated side.
But still, the English are a formidable foe whichever lineup they play, so the Rossoneri could still be in for a rough night.
Talking Points
Milan overcoming injury issues
AC Milan will head into their crunch Champions League clash with Liverpool in good form. They bounced back from back-to-back league defeats to Fiorentina and Sassuolo by beating relegation strugglers Genoa and Salernitana.
Franck Kessie and Alexis Saelemaekers scored within the first 20 minutes this weekend against Salernitana, which allowed coach Stefano Pioli to sub out the likes of Rafael Leao and Theo Hernandez ahead of their midweek match against Liverpool.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored in the win against Genoa, his third goal in the last four games. The veteran striker missed the first match against Liverpool, but he was rested over the weekend and should be ready to start.
Meanwhile, Brahim Diaz is in fine form at the moment. The young Spaniard has supplied two assists in his last two games.
Milan will be shorthanded in attack, with Pietro Pellegri needing to be substituted over the weekend due to an injury. Ante Rebic and Olivier Giroud are also out injured, so in-form Junior Messias – who scored the crucial late winner against Atletico Madrid and a brace against Genoa – will likely be called upon as an option off the bench.
Milan also have injury issues in defence. Starting right-back Davide Calabria and centre-back Simon Kjaer are both out, which means Alessandro Florenzi and Alessio Romagnoli will likely continue to deputise in defence.
Liverpool likely to rest their stars
Liverpool extended their winning run to five games in a row with a 1-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers over the weekend. Although, they needed to work harder than expected as Divock Origi’s strike deep in stoppage time delivered all three points.
It was the first time the Reds have failed to score at least two goals in their last 18 games. They had been in especially ruthless form away from home, scoring at least three goals in nine of their 11 away games in all competitions. That included a 4-1 demolition of Everton in the Merseyside derby.
Jurgen Klopp fielded a full-strength side against Wolves over the weekend, but he will likely make wholesale changes in midweek with the Reds already qualified for the next round of the Champions League.
The likes of Origi, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Ibrahima Konate will likely get the opportunity to start in the final group-stage game. Oxlade-Chamberlain has appeared in all five Champions League games thus far, with two starts.
But even a second-string Liverpool side can cause any side big problems, as they showed in their last Champions League match at home against Porto. Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, and Thiago all still started, and Thiago and Salah scored the goals to get the routine 2-0 win.
History
After splitting their last two meetings – both in the Champions League final – Liverpool won their first group-stage match at Anfield. The Reds were absolutely dominant in the first half and created multiple Champions League 2021 highlights, but they still entered half-time down 2-1 due to goals from Ante Rebic and Brahim Diaz.
But Mohamed Salah and Jordan Henderson both scored in the second half as Liverpool came from behind to claim the 3-2 win.
Betting Tip
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 | AC Milan vs Liverpool | 1X2 AC Milan @ 2.20 |
| December 08, 4:00 AM (GMT+8) |
With Liverpool likely to rest many of their stars, SBOTOP odds have AC Milan priced as 2.20 favourites to prevail in this must-win match at home. Liverpool are priced at 3.25, while draw is similarly priced at 3.25.
Clearly, the motivation advantage will be in Milan’s favour. They must win in order to stand any chance of going through, while Liverpool are likely to put their foot off the gas away from home.
Look for the Rossoneri to handle their half of the equation and bring down the significantly rotated Reds at San Siro.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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|---|---|---|---|
 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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