In what will be one of the biggest nights in their history, Bournemouth welcome seven-time European champions Milan to the Vitality Stadium on Thursday night in the league phase of the Europa League.
Bournemouth finally claimed their first win in the Premier League this season last weekend as they defeated 10-man Sunderland 2-0.
Marcus Tavernier gave the Cherries an early lead before the Black Cats were reduced to 10 men after just 17 minutes, with striker Evanilson doubling the lead at the beginning of the second half to move them up to 15th in the Premier League table.
That win came three days after a 3-0 success over Sturm Graz in the Europa League – on an evening both of my selections landed – maintaining Marco Rose’s side's 100% start to the league phase after an impressive win in San Sebastien against Real Sociedad on MD1.
Milan also come into this clash off the back of consecutive wins, as they followed up their 0-4 win over RB Salzburg in the Europa League last Thursday with a 3-2 success over Atalanta in Serie A on Sunday.
Ruben Amorim has now won five and lost just one of his opening nine games in charge of the Rossoneri (W5-D3-L1), with that loss coming on MD1 of this competition against Benfica.
How the bookies view it: Bournemouth favourites
Bournemouth are favourites to maintain their 100% start in this competition, with bet365 pricing a home win at 23/20.
Milan are 11/5 underdogs to make it three wins in the space of seven days, whilst the draw is 13/5.
Head to head: First-ever competitive meeting
It will come as no surprise that Thursday’s clash at the Vitality will be the first-ever competitive meeting between these two clubs.
Players to watch: Evanilson to find the target again?
Evanilson helped Bournemouth secure their first Premier League win of the season last weekend, as he scored the second in their 2-0 victory over Sunderland.
That’s now three goals on the spin and four assists overall this campaign for the ex-Porto attacker, and appeals at 11/10 at bet365 to Score or Assist on Thursday night.
Backed a player to find the net? Check our Goalscorer Betting guide to see how the markets work and where to find value.
Predicted line-ups:
AFC Bournemouth: Petrovic, Smith, Hill, Silva, Truffert, Adams, Christie, Rayan, Kluivert, Tavernier, Evanilson
Milan: Maignan, Tomori, De Winter, Pavlovian, Hutchinson, Rabiot, Jashari, Bartesaghi, Loftus-Cheek, Cisse, Ramos
Anything else catch the eye?
This promises to be an entertaining clash with both teams failing to find the target just once so far this season, with Both Teams to Score & Over 2.5 Goals standing out at 20/21 at bet365.
Bournemouth’s opening 10 matches in all competitions this season have averaged 3.20 goals per game, with Over 2.5 Goals landing in seven (70%) of them – including in both league-phase clashes.
Milan have seen Both Teams to Score land in 4/5 (80%) of their road trips this season, whilst three of their past four and four of their previous six across all venues have gone Over 2.5 Goals.
GambleAware