Free football betting tips, odds and match previews: Arsenal v AC Milan at the Emirates Stadium
Thursday's Europa League action includes Arsenal v AC Milan, where George Pitts is predicting a win on the night for the Serie A side.
Europa League recommended bets
1pt AC Milan to score first v Arsenal at 143/100 (Marathon Bet)
1pt AC Milan to beat Arsenal at 29/10 (Marathon Bet)
1pt Borussia Dortmund to qualify for the quarter-finals at 21/10 (Marathon Bet)
For details of advised bookmakers and each-way terms, visit our transparent tipping record
Arsenal v AC Milan - 2-0 aggregate (BT Sport 2, 2005 GMT)
This could be another excellent watch, due to the fact AC Milan have really got to go for it.
Gennaro Gattuso’s side trail by two away goals, so they have at least 90 minutes to save their Europa League campaign.
Europa League: Arsenal to win this season’s competition at 4/1
For this reason, over 2.5 goals would go well in a coupon and that combined with an AC Milan victory looks good at 9/2.
The Emirates has been a difficult home for Arsenal in recent weeks, with a flat atmosphere and far from full crowd on a number of occasions after a poor start to 2018 under Arsene Wenger.
Goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Aaron Ramsey at the San Siro gave them a 2-0 first-leg lead and a nice cushion to take the away goals back to London.
The result means Milan went to 66/1 with Sky Bet to win the competition outright and Gattuso’s side must come out fighting – and I think they will.
The visitors to score first at nearly 14/10 is tempting, while a 2-1 victory for Milan can be backed at 12/1 – a scoreline which would still see Arsenal go through on aggregate.
Last week’s strike was Mkhitaryan’s first for the Gunners, and he followed it up with another in Sunday’s Premier League win over Watford. Fancy him to make it three in a row? Arsenal are without the ineligible Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang while Alexandre Lacazette is still out, and you can back Mkhitaryan to find the back of the net anytime at 45/17.
Arsenal’s season has not had many great moments and their hopes of Champions League football next term rely on winning the Europa League. Losing a two-goal lead here would be disastrous and lead to further calls for Wenger to depart.
While I don’t think they will capitulate completely, I am backing Milan to score the first goal at 143/100 and win on the night at 29/10.
Prediction: Arsenal 1-2 (Sky Bet's odds: 12/1)
And the best of the rest…
Atletico Madrid’s tie looks to be over after a straightforward 3-0 win v Lokomotiv Moscow last week, so less than 2.5 goals at 23/20 could be worth backing with Diego Simeone a master tactician in these situations.
Elsewhere, I am backing Dortmund to come from 2-1 down to beat Salzburg and qualify. A win for the Bundesliga giants on the night is 11/8, while they are 21/10 to qualify for the quarter-final draw.
Zenit currently trail 2-1 to RB Leipzig and the return leg is in Russia, so a 1-0 win (9/1) would be enough for them to advance on away goals, but Zenit to win and both teams scoring can be backed at a very temping 4/1.
Europa League round of 16 fixtures - March 15
1600 GMT
Lokomotiv Moscow v Atletico Madrid (0-3 agg)
1800 GMT
Athletic Bilbao v Marseille (1-3 agg)
Dynamo Kiev v Lazio (2-2 agg)
Viktoria Plzen v Sporting Lisbon (0-2 agg)
Zenit St Petersburg v RB Leipzig (1-2 agg)
2005 GMT
Arsenal v AC Milan (2-0 agg)
RB Salzburg v Borussia Dortmund (2-1 agg)
Lyon v CSKA Moscow (1-0 agg)
Read more: When is the draw for the Champions League and Europa League quarter-finals? Teams, TV, date, time and more details
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Posted at 1805 GMT 14/03/2018.