(REUTERS)
Newcastle United are back. Eddie Howe’s men have not featured in the group stage of the Champions League since the 2002/03 season over 20 years ago but they qualified for this year’s competition thanks to a fourth place finish in the Premier League last season.
Newcastle have been drawn in a horrendously tough group that also features tonight’s opponents, AC Milan, Ligue 1 winners Paris Saint-Germain and Bundesliga bigwigs Borussia Dortmund. They’ll relish their underdog status and use the opportunity to strike a blow against some of European football’s heavweight teams.
This evening Milan welcome Newcastle to the San Siro having lost just one of their last 13 competitive matches as the home side, inlcuding against Tottenham in last year’s Champions League. But, while Newcastle ended a run of three defeats with victory over Brentford at the weekend, Milan were heavily beaten by Inter and will be low on confidence.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of tonight’s Champions League clash. Plus you can get all the latest football betting sites offers here.
When is AC Milan vs Newcastle?
The match kicks off at 5.45pm BST on Tuesday 19 September at the San Siro in Italy.
Where can I watch it?
AC Milan vs Newcastle will be broadcast live on TNT Sports 1 with coverage starting at 5pm. It will be streamed live on the Discovery+ app and desktop website for subscribers.
What is the team news?
AC Milan are without centre-back Pierre Kalulu due to a thigh concern while Ismael Bennacer continues to recover from knee surgery. Fikayo Tomori was suspendes for Milan’s defeat to Inter at the weekend but is expected to come straight back into the starting XI for tonight’s game.
Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali will return to the San Siro despite picking up a knock while on international duty. He was on the bench for the win versus Brentford but is expected to feature for Eddie Howe’s men this evening. Joe Willock and Emil Krafth are out with respective calf and knee injuries while Joelinton (knee) is also absent.
Predicted lineups
AC Milan: Maignan; Calabria, Tomori, Kjaer, Hernandez; Reijnders, Krunic, Loftus-Cheek; Chukwueze, Giroud, Leao
Newcastle XI: Pope; Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn; Longstaff, Tonali, Guimaraes; Gordon, Isak, Barnes
Odds
AC Milan: 7/5
Draw: 9/5
Newcastle: 8/5
Prediction
AC Milan are tricky opponents in the Champions League and will want to bounce back from their derby defeat at the weekend. They’ll try to utilise the atmosphere of the San Siro to their advantage but Newcastle, buoyed by the prospect of once again playing in Europe, will have enough quality to keep them at bay for a slender win or, more likely, a scoring draw.
AC Milan 1-1 Newcastle
