Tottenham Hotspur v AC Milan: Any Chance of a Champions League Lift?

by Matthew Harris · 6th March 2023

It’s been a poor start to the month and, after the promise of February, there is a very good chance that Spurs are about to be eliminated from their second competition in less than a week.

The team performed reasonably well in the first leg of this Champions League tie against Milan, but a 0-1 deficit will be tough to overturn on Wednesday night? Can us fans receive a lift after two successive defeats? Let’s see.

Team News

Time constraints mean that we’re having to compile this preview on the day after the Wolves defeat. Therefore, we don’t know too much beyond the pre-existing injury list from prior to that game.

Hugo Lloris and Ryan Sessegnon are still pencilled in for returns on April 1st. Rodrigo Bentancur is out for the season, while Yves Bissouma could also be missing for the rest of the campaign.

There doesn’t appear to be anything to add following Saturday’s match, but the club’s official channels will update this in due course.

Match Odds

Tottenham are the favourites to win on the night with most bookmakers quoting odds on figures. Elsewhere, the best industry odds on the home win stand at Even Money with 10Bet. The draw follows at a top price of 11/4 with BetFred, while victory for AC Milan rounds things off at a best of 3/1 with Vbet.

Those are the numbers for the result in 90 minutes, and we also have a separate To Qualify market. Here, Milan are the clear favourites at 4/7 with Ladbrokes and Coral. Spurs are out at 7/5 with Unibet.

Form is mixed on both sides and it’s tough to know what to expect. We need to win it, but that could always leave us open at the back and the draw on the night may be a popular pick for the neutrals.

Side Markets

The first goalscorer betting has been a little slow to come in following Saturday’s game. From the smaller number of bookmakers that have declared figures so far, Betfred are offering the best odds of 4/1 on the favourite Harry Kane.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has recently returned to the Milan line up following a long term injury and he’s installed as the second favourite at a top price of 11/2 with Betfred again.

The bookies continue to get behind our January signing Arnaut Danjuma who is quoted at a best of 6/1 with Unibet while Son Heung-Min is available at a top price of 13/2 with Betfred.

Olivier Giroud is next for AC Milan at best odds of 7/1 with AC Milan, while other options for Spurs backers include Richarlison at 8/1 with BetFred, Lucas Moura at 9/1 with Betfred, Dejan Kulusevski at 14/1 with 888Sport and Ivan Perisic at 31/2 with 888Sport.

In other side markets, Both Teams to Score is listed for Wednesday at 6/7 with Vbet. If you’d rather take the No option on BTTS, this is available at Even Money with 10Bet and Betfred.

Next is the Overs and Unders markets where a stake Above the 2.5 goal line will currently be met at best industry odds of Even Money with Vbet. If we want to push that one stage higher to Over 3.5, this comes in at 88/35 with Vbet again. If you’re expecting a quiet evening on Wednesday, staking Under the 2.5 goal line will return 6/7 and that’s also with Vbet.

Finally, we’ll head to the Correct Score betting and, if you’re confident that Spurs can turn it around, a 2-0 home win is listed at 8/1 with Coral and 888Sport. A 2-1 victory in favour of AC Milan is on offer at 12/1 with Quinnbet while the 2-2 draw comes in at 14/1 with Betfred.

Head to Head

Remember that last month’s defeat was the first time that we had lost to Milan in five meetings. We had been drawn against these opponents in European competition on two previous occasions in two-legged affairs.

Back in the 1971/72 season when we eventually won the first edition of the UEFA Cup, we played Milan at the semi final stage. A 2-1 win in the home leg, followed by a 1-1 draw in Milan was enough to put Spurs through to the final.

In the Champions League campaign of 2010/11, a 1-0 win in the San Siro, followed by a 0-0 draw at home, saw us progress from the first knockout stage.

It had been an impressive record against one of Europe’s top clubs, and we hope the team can add another victory on Wednesday night.

Verdict

When you’re so emotionally invested in your club, it’s hard to even attempt an impartial prediction. That’s why we always skip on tipping the result at the end of these previews.

For Wednesday, it might just be easier to come to a conclusion, based on our most recent performances. We need a win and we need to score at least two goals. We’ll be fielding our strongest available side, as clearly the Champions League takes priority over winning any sort of trophy.

We had plenty of shots against Wolves and, on another day, the scoreline could have been quite different.

On Wednesday, a similar approach should result in goals but, the longer we leave it without scoring, the greater the chance of leaving ourselves open at the back. We’ll therefore sign off by tipping Both Teams to Score and Over 3.5 goals. Remember, they are for the result in 90 minutes only, excluding any extra time.

These are familiar bets and, although we haven’t seen them land for a while, it could be that type of game. Let’s just hope that the vast majority of those goals land in the AC Milan net.