AC Milan hold a solid advantage as they travel to Slavia Prague for their Europa League round of 16 second leg. It was a six goal thriller in the first meeting and with neither team not particularly convincing at the back, another high-scoring encounter could be on the cards here.
Slavia Prague played most of the first leg with 10 men following an early red card to El Hadji Diouf. They were beaten 4-2 by AC Milan with efforts from David Doudera and Ivan Schranz giving them a lifeline ahead of the return fixture.
The Czech giants have not been at their best lately, with just one win from their last four matches across all competitions. However, that win came last weekend as they hammered Teplice 4-0 in a Czech Liga fixture.
The win over Teplice extends Slavia Prague’s home record as they have now won nine of their last 10 matches across all competitions. Jindrich Trpisovsky’s men have also won their last five home matches in the Europa League.
AC Milan were full value for the win in the first leg as they took advantage of an early red card to Slavia Prague. Goals from Olivier Giroud, Tijani Reijnders, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Christian Pulisic earned them a solid enough advantage.
The Rossoneri have generally been in good form lately, winning their last three matches across all competitions. They head into Thursday’s clash off the back of a 1-0 victory over Empoli in a Serie A fixture last weekend with Pulisic on target once again.
AC Milan are a bit erratic on their travels with five wins from their last 10 away matches across all competitions. Stefano Pioli’s men also struggled to maintain their defensive solidity on the road, keeping just two clean sheets in that run.
How the bookies view it
AC Milan have the upper hand among the bookies and are priced at 6/5 by William Hill to claim the win. Slavia Prague are considered outsiders with a home win priced at 11/5 by 10bet while Betfred is offering odds of 3/1 for a draw.
Head to head
Last week’s clash was the first ever meeting between Slavia Prague and AC Milan.
Players to watch
Vaclav Jurecka often features in attack and could be worth keeping an eye on for Slavia Prague. The forward has four goals in his last six matches and is priced at 12/5 by Unibet to get on the score sheet on Thursday.
Olivier Giroud leads the line for AC Milan and having opened the scoring in the first leg, could be backed to find the net on Thursday at 17/10 with William Hill. Christian Pulisic has also scored in his last two matches and could be worth keeping an eye on at 10/3 with bet365.
Anything else catch the eye?
It was a six goal-thriller in the first leg and another high-scoring contest could be expected here. Over 4.5 goals is valued at 17/4 by Unibet, who is also offering odds of 7/4 for over 3.5 goals.
There were second half goals for both teams in the first leg and Thursday’s clash could be set to follow a similar pattern at 7/4 with BoyleSports.
This UEFA Europa League match between Slavia Prague and AC Milan will be played on Mar 14, 2024 and kick off at 17:45. Check below for our tipsters best Slavia Prague vs AC Milan prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
