Newcastle and Milan bidding to reach Champions League knockouts
Newcastle United vs AC Milan - 13/12/2023
Fabrizio Andrea Bertani / Shutterstock.com
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Newcastle United and AC Milan can both still reach the Champions League knockout phase as they prepare to lock horns at St. James’ Park on Matchday 6.
However, both sides need to win on Wednesday and hope that Borussia Dortmund beat Paris Saint-Germain in order to progress to the last 16.
As it stands, third-placed Newcastle and fourth-placed Milan are locked on five points in Group F, while second-placed PSG sits two points clear of the bottom two.
Newcastle suffered a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, with Joelinton scoring a consolation goal in second-half stoppage time.
Not only have Eddie Howe’s men lost each of their last two games – conceding seven goals in the process – but they have also lost four of their previous seven.
The Magpies kicked off their Champions League campaign with a goalless draw at the San Siro before crushing PSG 4-1 at St. James’ Park on Matchday 2.
Since then, however, Newcastle have taken a solitary point from a possible nine in the UCL, suffering back-to-back defeats against Dortmund before drawing with PSG.
Meanwhile, AC Milan endured a 3-2 loss against Atalanta last time out, with Luis Muriel scoring the winning goal in the 95th minute.
The Rossoneri have now lost two of their last three matches, with five defeats coming in their previous 10 encounters across all competitions.
Milan managed to take just two points from their opening three Champions League games before defeating PSG 2-1 to give themselves a glimmer of hope.
However, a 3-1 defeat to Dortmund last month means that Milan find themselves rock bottom of Group F with one match remaining to save their UCL campaign.
Head-to-head: Milan and Newcastle met for the very first time back in September, with the two sides playing out a goalless draw in Italy.
The Rossoneri racked up 25 shots in the reverse fixture, limiting the Magpies to a solitary attempt on target, but Howe’s men managed to come away with a point.
Team news: Newcastle’s lengthy injury list contains Nick Pope, Jacob Murphy, Dan Burn, Elliot Anderson, Sven Botman, Joe Willock, Harvey Barnes, Javier Manquillo and Matt Target.
AC Milan also have multiple absentees, with Mattia Caldara, Pierre Kalulu, Simon Kjaer, Rafael Leao, Noah Okafor, Marco Pellegrino, Marco Sportiello and Malick Thiaw on the treatment table.
If the previous meeting between these two sides is anything to go by, Wednesday’s showdown will be a low-scoring affair.
Forebet predicts that Newcastle United and AC Milan will play out a goalless draw at St. James’ Park, eliminating each other from the competition.
Home team
Away team
Pred
Correct score
Avg. goals
Weather conditions
Coef.
Score
Live
coef.
UCL
294130
X
0 - 0
1.63
4°
3.80
1.85
3.80
3.80
no
no
no
1 - 2(1 - 0)
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