Champions League
2009-12-08 - FC Zurich vs AC Milan
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
FC Zurich
FC Zurich might be out of European competition this season, but they will treasure the memory of their famous win at the San Siro earlier this season when an early goal led to a 0-1 win. Now they have an opportunity to knock out one of the famous names in Champions League history.
Zurich are 1-0-4 in the group this season where they have scored 4 goals and conceded 13. They have lost both home games, 2-5 to Real Madrid and 0-1 to Marseille.
It has been a tough season all round for the Swiss Champions and they currently sit 4th from bottom of their domestic league with a 6-5-7 record. They have ensured they are tough to beat at home, domestically at least, where they are 5-2-2 with 21 goals scored and 12 conceded.
Zurich are in the midst of some terrible form with only 1 win in their last 8 games in all competitions. In fact they have lost 5 of their last 6 matches in all competitions. However, they will gain some confidence from the fact that they have only lost 1 of their last 5 games at home.
Yassine Chikhaoui and Eric Hassli are both missing through injury while Florian Stahel is suspended. Onyekachi Okonkwo returns to the squad after serving a suspension.
AC Milan
AC Milan find themselves in a position to qualify and win the group on matchday 6, a feat that may have been beyond them after their shock defeat to Zurich at home. If Milan win, and Real Madrid fail to win in Marseille, it will be the Italians who win the group.
Milan are 2-2-1 in the group, scoring 7 goals and conceding 6. They know they will qualify from the group with a win or if Marseille fail to beat Real Madrid. Milan have won both away games in the group, beating Marseille 1-2 and Real Madrid 2-3.
Domestically they do have an impressive 9-4-2 record so far this season which leaves them only 4 points behind city rivals Inter Milan in the chase for the Serie A title. They have proven hard to beat away from home where they are 4-3-1, with 11 goals scored and 7 conceded.
The Rossoneri are unbeaten in 12 games in all competitions since the defeat to Zurich. They have won 8 of those games. They are also unbeaten in their last 6 away games in all competitions, and have won 4 of their last 5 games away from the San Siro.
Oguchi Onyewu, Christian Abbiati, Massimo Oddo and Gennaro Gattuso are all missing while Ronaldhino is a doubt. Gianluca Zambrotta is also suspended.
Head to Head
AC Milan lost 0-1 to Zurich earlier this season but the sides also met last season.
Milan managed to beat Zurich 3-1 at home in the UEFA Cup last season before winning 0-1 in Zurich.
Prediction
FC Zurich will hope to finish their campaign on a high but have been struggling in recent weeks. They have been beaten twice already at home in this competition.
Milan have been on a good run of wins recently and will be confident of securing a place in the last 16. They have performed very well away from home in recent weeks and have won matches in Madrid and Marseille already.
I cant see beyond a Milan win here which may be enough to win the group. They will be focused after losing the reverse fixture at the San Siro and concentration should prevent lightning striking twice.
The Statistics :
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Pick :
FC Zurich 0-2 AC Milan
