Tonight at 8 p.m., one of the most interesting pairs of the Europa League will start their duel - "AC Milan" and London's "Arsenal" teams. The first match will take place at the "San Siro" stadium, and the return match will move to London after a week.
"Milan" will undoubtedly try to take advantage of the very poor form of the "Arsenal" club and will want to extend their winning streak against the "gunners". In the 2012 Champions League series, "Milan" won the first match 4-0, lost 0-3 in the return match, but eliminated the London team from the tournament and moved on.
However, in 2008 the same fate awaited the Italians, when they played the first match equally and stumbled 0-2 in the second. In 1995 in the UEFA Super Cup, the "AC Milan" team defeated "Arsenal" 2-0 with a total score.
However, this time these numbers will not determine anything, but what can be noted is the forms of the teams.
Team forms:
The "Milan" team recently reached the final of the "Coppa Italia", when they defeated "Lazio" after penalty kicks, before that they defeated "Roma", "Sampdoria", SPAL and twice "Ludogorets". A series of 6 victories should intimidate "Arsenal".
Meanwhile, in the last 8 matches in the Premier League, "Arsenal" only managed to get 7 points. At the moment, they have a series of four consecutive defeats. Last weekend they lost to "Brighton", then lost twice to "Manchester City", and it all started with a loss to the "Ostersund" team.
Arsenal is 33 points behind the leader in the country's championship and 13 points behind fourth place, which opens the doors to the Champions League.
Key duels: Patrick Cutrone - Laurent Koscielny
The "Milan" striker P. Cutrone is in good athletic form and it can be expected that he will be at the forefront of the attacks. He has already scored 6 goals in the Europa League in 11 matches.
However, the 20-year-old striker will have to face experienced "Arsenal" defender L. Koscielny. The Frenchman represented his country 50 times and has appeared for the "Arsenal" team 317 times since 2010. The Frenchman will have to use his experience to stop the opponent's striker, otherwise P. Cutrone may find ways to punish the opponents and lead his team forward.
Mesut Ozil - Lucas Biglia
"Arsenal" will have to keep an eye on M. Ozil and his creative side. The German is known for his excellent game creation, but for that to happen, he must be in the right mood. However, "Milan" has their answer - L. Biglia.
He can disrupt the German from receiving the ball and doing something with it, as he should be the one who does not allow "Arsenal" defenders and midfielders to freely distribute the ball.
Team news:
In the match against "Brighton", the "Arsenal" team gave rest to several footballers and Hector Bellerin and Aaron Ramsey should already join the battle with "Milan". However, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Nacho Monreal will not be able to help the team.
Arsenal should give chances to Sead Kolasinac and Danny Welbeck.
Meanwhile, "Milan" will have to play without Luca Antonelli, Ignazio Abate and Andrea Conti - they are all recovering from injuries.
Predicted starting lineups:
"Milan" (4-3-3): Gianluigi Donnarumma, Ricardo Rodriguez, Cristian Zapata, Leonardo Bonucci, Davide Calabria, Giacomo Bonaventura, Lucas Biglia, Franck Kessie, Andre Silva, Patrick Cutrone, Suso.
"Arsenal" (4-2-3-1): David Ospina, Sead Kolasinac, Laurent Koscielny, Shkodran Mustafi, Hector Bellerin, Granit Xhaka, Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Danny Welbeck.
