Manchester Utd v AC Milan Tips: Back the draw at Old Trafford

Thursday evening football is back as Manchester United welcome AC Milan in the first leg of the Europa League last 16. Live on BT Sport with an early 17:55 kick off, Old Trafford plays the host to these two once dominant domestic powerhouses who meet for the first ever time in Europes second tier competition. 

After medical scans on Monday, Marcus Rashford has avoided ankle ligament damage from the weekend and is unlikely to feature; with the Welshman Dan James expected to replace him. David De Gea will also miss this match due to the birth of his first child, with Cavani, Van De Beek and Pogba all still doubts for this clash.  

A return to Old Trafford for the Portuguese full back, Diogo Dalot, should see him start at left back here for the Italian side. Stefano Pioli will have several changes to make with many first team starters ruled out. Both Ante Rebic and Theo Hernandez have been pivotal to AC in recent months and both didn’t make the bench at the weekend, seemingly unlikely to be fit enough to start on Thursday. Zlatan will also be welcomed back to his former club, but still remains a doubt due to recent injury.

The Scottish international is having the best season of his Manchester United career and has really had a positive impact on the team since Paul Pogba has been out of the side due to injury. He has managed to score twice in his last five Premier League starts, which takes his total to four goals in 17 starts. 

With a more defensive minded centre mid partnering him, it's allowed him to be the more attacking of the two and this can been shown in his overall attacking output. In his last 6 matches he has registered nine shots, with five of those being on target. 12/5 on him to land another shot on target, which has landed in five of his last six starts looks a huge price.

The Red Devils have looked solid lately, only tasting defeat twice in their last 24 matches in all competitions. In recent games however, they have also been hit and miss when it comes to finding the back of the net. After a 4-0 thumping handed to Real Sociedad and a 3-1 win against Newcastle, they went on to register three 0-0’s in a row before an impressive 2-0 v Manchester City at the weekend. 

AC Milan are also no pushovers and will look to keep things tight in the first leg. The Italian side have had three draws in their last six matches and if they can manage an away goal, they would be more than happy heading back to the San Siro level pegging. Taking this into account with the fact Manchester United have managed six draws in their last 10 matches, I see this 3/1 as great value in what should be a tight affair.

The Ivorian central midfielder could have a busy night trying to cope with the Portuguese superstar, Bruno Fernandes, who has been fouled eight times in hist last two matches. In Kessie’s last 20 starts, he has committed 42 fouls and picked up seven yellow cards; it almost feels like a perfect storm. 

 Averaging a card in over one in three matches, his odds of 11/4 for a booking look overpriced. If you include the huge price on Scott McTominay for a shot on target and the result to be a draw, we end up with a whopping same game multi that i'll definitely be backing.