Prediction and odds for the game: Celtic (16/5) vs AC Milan (17/20)

We are backing the away win

When: Thursday, 22nd October 2020, Kick-off 20:00

Where: Celtic Park

On Thursday night, Celtic and resurgent AC Milan go head-to-head at Celtic Park in Group H of the Europa League. The encounter has the potential ingredients to be a truly memorable encounter.

Celtic

The Scottish champions kick-off another Europa League campaign having failed to negotiate the qualifying rounds of the Champions League. The Hoops suffered a second qualifying round defeat at home against Ferencvaros.

Neil Lennon’s team also had to beat both Riga and Sarajevo in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League to book their place in the group stages of the competition. The 1-0 victories ended a three-game winless run in the Europa League for the Scottish giants. However, the home side did qualify for the knockout stages of the competition last season, only to exit the competition at the hands of surprise-package Copenhagen. They had suffered just one defeat in their six group games last season.

A 3-1 defeat against Copenhagen ended a four-game winning run on home soil for Celtic in the Europa League. The defeat also ended a prolific run of scoring for the Scottish champions on home soil in the competition, as they had scored at least two goals in their previous matches at Celtic Park.

Celtic go into this big clash on the back of a 2-0 home defeat against local rivals Rangers in the Glasgow derby. The defeat leaves the Hoops four points behind the Gers, with a game in-hand.

AC Milan

The Rossoneri are experiencing a stellar campaign so far in Serie A this season. Like Celtic, Milan had a local derby at the weekend, which they won 2-1 against Inter courtesy of a brace by veteran Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The 39-year-old has now scored five goals in just three appearances in all competitions for Stefano Pioli’s team this season.

The visitors have won all four of their league games this season. Like the home side, they also had to negotiate the qualifying rounds of the competition, beating Shamrock Rovers and Norwegian leaders Bodo/Glimt. In the last round, the Rossoneri needed penalty kicks to see-off Portuguese team Rio Ave after a 2-2 draw.

The draw last time out means that Milan have won just two of their last seven games in the Europa League in 90 minutes. Ibrahimovic and co will be determined to improve that record in this encounter.

Conclusion

Celtic will be down after the derby defeat, while Milan are flying at the moment. We are backing the away win (sorry I know that’s boring), but it’s hard to avoid. The other bet we are backing is over 2.5 goals, as we believe these two teams will cause the opposition problems.

Verdict: We are backing the away win at odds of 4/7 and/or over 2.5 goals scored at odds of 10/11. (All odds are taken from Bet365)

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