AC Milan begin their UEFA Champions League campaign with a Group E trip to Austrian champions RB Salzburg. Both teams have made positive starts in their respective domestic leagues but Milan’s superior quality is likely to give them the edge in a closely fought encounter.
RB Salzburg had their Champions League breakthrough last season as they reached the round of 16, losing to Bayern Munich. Although they were blown away in the second leg in Germany, a 1-1 draw in the first meeting showed a potential to hold their own against some of the European elite.
Given their performance last season, expectations is likely to be high for Matthias Jaissle’s men this season. They may have lost key players like Karim Adeyemi in the transfer market but highly rated youngster Benjamin Sesko remains at the club at least for one more season.
RB Salzburg are usually dominant in the Austrian Bundesliga and head into Tuesday’s Group E opener off the back of five straight wins. They claimed a 2-0 victory over WSG Tirol last time out with Noah Okafor and Youba Diarra getting the goals.
AC Milan have been on the rise in recent years with their resurgence culminating in a Serie A title win last season. However, they must improve their performances in Europe having suffered a dismal group stage exit in the Champions League last term.
Although Milan are still unbeaten this season, they remain some way off their impressive early season showings in their title winning campaign last term. Stefano Pioli’s men have already dropped points to the likes of Sassuolo and Atalanta.
However, AC Milan showed they can be the side for the big occasion last Saturday, claiming a come from behind 3-2 victory over bitter rivals Inter Milan. Rafael Leao sparked the comeback with a brace while Olivier Giroud was also on target.
How the bookies view it
AC Milan have the upper hand among the bookies and are priced at 15/13 by Sport Nation to claim the win. A victory for RB Salzburg is valued at 13/5 by SBK while a draw is set at odds of 27/10 by Unibet.
Head to head
This will be the first ever meeting between RB Salzburg and AC Milan.
Players to watch
Noah Okafor was one of the youngsters who burst unto the scene for RB Salzburg last season and has carried that form into this campaign. The forward has found the net three times in his last four matches and is priced at 3/1 by Paddy Power to find the net on Tuesday.
Rafael Leao is having a fine start to the season for AC Milan and will be the one to watch on Tuesday. The Portugal forward has three goals in his last three matches and is priced at 11/4 by Unibet to get on the score sheet on Tuesday.
Anything else catch the eye?
Given the attacking quality on both sides, goals can be expected in this one. There were over 3.5 goals in AC Milan’s last fixture and a repeat is priced at 2/1 with bet365 while over 2.5 goes is valued at 4/5 by Coral.
Both teams tend to find their rhythm after the break and could be backed to score in the second half at 39/19 with SBK.
This UEFA Champions League match between RB Salzburg and AC Milan will be played on Sep 6, 2022 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best RB Salzburg vs AC Milan prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
