UEFA Champions League action continues on Tuesday with the second leg of the quarterfinals fixtures and Napoli will try to overcome a 1-0 deficit at home against AC Milan.
The loss from the opening game has made Napoli slight underdogs in the match-up. Bookmaker 10bet has the odds at 2.10 for Napoli to advance to the next round and at 1.74 for Milan to get through.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: April 17th, 11:00 A.M. (EST)
Milan’s victory last week was a shock result as the Rossoneri haven’t played well at all during the latter half of the season and Napoli has been crushing opponents regularly. However, Milan also beat Napoli 4-0 in the league at the start of the month, so it appears as though Milan boss Stefano Pioli has managed to figure out how to hurt the runaway Serie A leaders.
Can Pioli now mastermind another victory to complete a hat trick of wins over Napoli? Gli Azzurri have been very tough to beat at their place, but they have finished without a single goal in three of the last five outings at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona and the current poor spell has definitely had an effect on the players’ confidence.
Luciano Spalletti will need to get his pregame speech spot on to fire up his squad for a comeback effort, while the return of Victor Osimhen should be a boost for Napoli’s chances as well.
Osimhen missed the first three games of the month with a muscle problem but is ready to go Tuesday as a starter. He made his comeback as a substitute Saturday versus Verona.
The star forward notched three goals against Frankfurt in the last round and has been in fantastic form throughout the season, getting 25 goals in 30 outings across all competitions. He has four goals in five Champions League appearances, averaging a goal every 83.5 minutes.
With Kim Min-jae out and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa also missing from the midfield through a suspension, Osimhen and the rest of the Napoli attack will be carrying a big burden in the comeback effort.
Milan looks to have a full squad available for the contest. Olivier Giroud missed Sunday’s training but traveled with the team and is expected to play. The veteran has recorded four goals and two assists in nine Champions League appearances this season and will be at the heart of things up front again if he plays.
