22 Sept 2021
Recent Form
Milan’s opening day clash with Liverpool didn’t disappoint as the two played out a five-goal thriller, but Although the Rossoneri were able to take advantage of Virgil van Dijk’s absence to register on the scoreboard twice, they weren’t so successful at the other end where they could have ended up conceding more.
Still, Milan’s 2-1 win over Spezia at the weekend does mean that they’ve scored in all seven games this season. In fact, they’ve only drawn a blank once in their past 13 since the start of May, winning 10 of these games, with that loss to Liverpool the only defeat.
They do have a poor record against Spanish teams to overcome having emerged victorious in just one of the past 17 such meetings, though only two of those clashes have come since 2014 and they’ve certainly improved during the intervening period.
Stefano Pioli has also been boosted on the injury front with Olivier Giroud and Davide Calabria back in action, though veteran Zlatan Ibrahimovic remains a doubt. Rade Krunic, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Alessandro Florenzi are all absent, though none of them would likely have started in any case.
Elsewhere, Simon Kjaer should return to the heart of defence, while Brahim Diaz will return to the starting line-up after his winner from the bench at the weekend, despite replacement Daniel Maldini netting the opener on his first full debut.
Diaz played second fiddle to Hakan Calhanoglu last term in the attacking midfield role, though the Real Madrid loanee has stepped up to the mark this term with four goals from seven appearances, despite the last one only an eight-minute cameo.
Under 2.5 Goals
His chances of registering another here may be limited however, as this looks set to be quite a low-scoring affair.
As ever, Atletico under Diego Simeone don’t concede many goals, though despite boasting the likes of Luis Suarez, Antoine Griezmann and Joao Felix in attack, they aren’t scoring goals for fun.
They’ve failed to score in three of their last four, including goalless stalemates at home to Porto and Athletic Bilbao, as well as a surprise 1-0 defeat away at Alaves on the weekend.
Milan Double Chance
It remains to be seen which one of Griezmann and Felix joins Suarez in attack, but the visitors aren’t without options all over with only two players absent.
Stefan Savic is suspended and Thomas Lemar is injured, but their current form isn’t encouraging and they face a Milan side that have won all three home games this season by at least two clear goals.
PREDICTION:
AC MILAN DOUBLE CHANCE
UNDER 2.5 GOALS
18+BeGambleAware
GENTING CASINO ONLY OFFERS SPORTS ARTICLES AND NOT SPORTS BETTING
