RENNES and AC Milan reconvene for the second leg of their Europa League playoff tie at Roazhon Park on Thursday evening.
The Rossoneri are in pole position to reach the round of 16 after recording a 3-0 win at the San Siro last Thursday night, bringing up my recommended Bet Builder in the process.
As such, Stefano Pioli’s side already have one foot in the next round and they will look to ensure they finish the job in Thursday’s return match in France.
That being said, Milan’s preparations for this second leg were far from ideal, going down 4-2 away at Monza in Serie A on Sunday night.
Rennes, meanwhile, made an immediate return to winning ways when recording a 3-1 win over Ligue 1 basement boys Clermont Foot at the weekend.
Julien Stéphan’s side will now switch their attention back to continental matters but it is going to take a herculean effort from them to maintain their stay in this season’s Europa League.
Outright Betting
Rennes go into Thursday evening’s second leg as marginal 8/5 favourites on Bet 365
A draw would do AC Milan nicely and that outcome can be backed at 13/5 (Betfred) while the away win is trading at 17/10 (Ladbrokes).
Betting Angles
Given that the attacking onus falls on Rennes here, I’m going to couple up Rennes to score and over three Rennes corners at 4/5 on the Bet 365 Bet Builder.
Whilst Rennes failed to strike at the San Siro last Thursday, they should carry more of an attacking threat on home turf, especially given that they will have to throw the proverbial kitchen sink at Milan if they are to have any chance of progressing.
What’s more, the French outfit have scored in 14 of their last 15 European home games and they can certainly land a blow against a Milan team that leak more than their fair share.
I’ll therefore back the Red and Blacks to make the net bulge at least once on Thursday evening, but to boost the odds, I’ll also go with a minimum of four Rennes corners.
As already mentioned, Rennes will have to throw caution to the wind to try and get back in this tie so they should rack up a few corners in the process.
The Brittany-based club are averaging just over 4.5 corners per 90 in the French top-flight this term, not to mention they have covered the 4+ line in five of their six Europa League games this season so far.
On a similar line of reasoning to the above, I’ll also side with the hosts to earn five or more corners at even-money on PaddyPower.
Granted, 5+ corners below is a shade below Rennes’ average amount this season, but I’m prepared to look beyond that here given the state of play of the tie.
This UEFA Europa League match between Rennes and AC Milan will be played on Feb 22, 2024 and kick off at 17:45. Check below for our tipsters best Rennes vs AC Milan prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.