Chelsea cruised to a 3-0 victory over AC Milan at Stamford Bridge last week in a remarkably one-sided tussle in Group E. Can new Blues boss Graham Potter mastermind another Champions League triumph this evening when Chelsea visit San Siro for the return fixture?
Below, we’ve assembled a stats pack for this evening’s contest which is packed to the ceiling with key info on goals, shots, assists, xG, cards, corners and more. Hopefully, you’ll find the information useful when putting your bet builders together later on. I’ve even got a Stats Pack Guide to help you out.
Predicted Lineups
AC Milan are still without several injured players including Mike Maignan, Alessandro Florenzi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Junior Messias, Simon Kjaer, Davide Calabria and Alexis Saelemaekers.
Milan bounced back from their defeat at Stamford Bridge with a fine 2-0 win over Juventus on Saturday and Head Coach Stefano Piolo might stick with the same XI that conquered Juve this evening.
Chelsea will be without injured French pair Wesley Fofana and N’Golo Kante, while Moroccan winger Hakim Ziyech is also a doubt after he missed training on Monday.
Graham Potter has been enjoying some early success with a 3-4-3 formation and he is almost certain to persist with the same structure in Italy.
Team Stats
Milan are fifth in Serie A after nine rounds of games and alongside collecting 20 points, they’ve been hitting 17.56 shots and 2.02 xG p/90.
Defensively, they’ve also been relatively sound domestically, conceding just 3.00 shots on target and 1.26 xG p/90. However, Milan have kept just three clean sheets in 12 competitive fixtures overall this term.
Chelsea’s goals for/against and xG for/against figures for the Premier League campaign so far are relatively similar, though their numbers will improve quickly if they can maintain their early performance levels under Graham Potter.
The Blues mustered 50 shots in Potter’s first four games in charge, while conceding just 23 at the opposite end. Chelsea have been picking up quite a few cards this season in the Premier League (2.88 p/90) and they’ve already collected five cautions in the Champions League too.
Player Shots and Shots on Target
Rafael Leao (4.95) and Olivier Giroud (4.34) are Milan’s leaders in the shots per 90 minutes stakes in Serie A this term, though neither attacker had much of a sniff at Stamford Bridge last week.
Both Leao and Giroud managed to register four attempts each in Milan’s only other Champions League home game this season against Dinamo Zagreb. Brahim Diaz (1.99 shots p/90) has been a regular threat from a slightly deeper position in Italy.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has still only played 75 minutes of Premier League football for Chelsea, though he has been used more regularly in Europe where he has started three times and hit 1.9 shots per 90.
Raheem Sterling has been impactful domestically (2.09 shots p/90), though he hasn’t quite matched his output in the Champions League so far (0.80 shots p/90). Mason Mount could be worth watching this evening. The attacking midfielder has been unleashing 3.2 shots per 90 minutes in the UCL this season.
Player Goals and Assists
Portuguese flier Rafael Leao has eight goal contributions (4G, 4A) in as many games in Serie A this season, and the 23-year-old has also managed to lodge two assists in the Champions League.
Olivier Giroud has one Champions League goal to complement his four domestic strikes, while Alexis Saelemaekers (two) and Tommaso Pobega are the only other Milan players to have notched in Europe so far.
Raheem Sterling has rattled the net three times in the Premier League this season and the 27-year-old scored the first goal of Graham Potter’s tenure against Salzburg in the Champions League last month.
Eight different Chelsea players have scored in four matches since Potter’s appointment. Mason Mount provided two assists in the Blues’ 3-0 win over Wolves at the weekend.
AC Milan Cards
Rafael Leao has been booked a huge four times in eight Serie A appearances this season, though he has been toning down the aggression in Europe where he has yet to see yellow.
Fikayo Tomori represents one of several better alternatives in the card market this evening. The former Chelsea defender was cautioned at Stamford Bridge last week and his determination to impress his former employers could lead to some mistimed challenges again.
Sandro Tonali has been booked three times in Serie A this term, while Rade Krunic, who was also carded in London, has been committing 1.54 fouls per 90 in Italy. Both players should be worth watching today.
Ben Chilwell (fouled 2.50 p/90) has been stopped in his tracks on a regular basis in the Premier League this term and the left-back’s surges forward this evening should bring him into contact with the aggressive Krunic.
Marauding midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek has also been fouled 2.07 times per 90 in England and the 26-year-old has also been fouled 3.00 times per appearance in the Champions League. His duels with Sandro Tonali should be of interest.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was among the goalscorers last week, should draw special attention from Fikayo Tomori at San Siro.
Match-Ups to watch
Sandro Tonali vs Ruben Loftus-Cheek
Fikayo Tomori vs Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Rade Krunic vs Ben Chilwell
Chelsea Cards
Reece James and Kalidou Koulibaly has collected a joint-high three cards each in the Premier League this season, though midfielder Mateo Kovacic has eclipsed both defenders in the fouls per 90 department (1.48).
All three players have already been cautioned in the Champions League this season too as have Mason Mount and Thiago Silva. Kovacic and Silva both saw yellow against Milan last week.
Brahim Diaz (2.49 dribbles p/90) is one of Milan’s most effective ball carriers and he is likely to meet Kalidou Koulibably when he drifts through the Blues lines this evening.
Ismael Bennacer (fouled 1.92 times p/90) is a combative presence in midfield for Milan and the Algerian’s skirmishes with Kovacic could spawn a card or two today.
Milan will expect far more thrust from Rafael Leao this evening after his limp performance at Stamford Bridge. The winger has been fouled 1.7 times per appearance in the Champions League this term and he will hope to test Reece James later on.
Match-Ups to watch
Reece James vs Rafael Leao
Kalidou Koulibaly vs Brahim Diaz
Mateo Kovacic vs Ismael Bennacer
