Tottenham return to Champions League action on Tuesday night when Antonio Conte's side face AC Milan in the Round of 16.
It's been a very tough few days for Spurs in the build-up to their trip to the San Siro, with Conte's side dismantled in their last outing, losing 4-1 to Leicester City in the Premier League. Rodrigo Bentancur opened the scoring for Spurs, but the midfielder has been ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering an ACL injury.
Bentancur's absence is a massive blow for the Lilywhites, and with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg suspended for the first leg against Milan and Yves Bissouma injured, Conte has been left with few midfield options. Spurs finished top of Group D in the Champions League group stages to advance to the Round of 16, with Milan finishing second in Group E to set up the clash.
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So, could Spurs get off to a good start in their Champions League last-16 clash with AC Milan? Let's take a look.
AC Milan vs Spurs score predicted by simulation
To complete this simulation, we used FIFA 23 and updated the squads with the latest injuries and suspensions.
We predict that the hosts could set up in a 3-4-2-1 formation, with their line-up as follows: Tatarusanu; Kalulu, Tomori, Kjaer; Saelemaekers, Krunic, Tonali, Hernandez; De Ketelaere, Leao; Giroud.
We predict that Spurs could line up in a 3-4-3 formation, with their line-up as follows: Forster; Romero, Dier, Lenglet; Royal, Skipp, Sarr, Perisic; Kulusevski, Kane, Son.
A golden opportunity fell Spurs' way after three minutes at the San Siro when Harry Kane stole possession off Fikayo Tomori and broke through one-on-one with the keeper, but the striker's effort was poor, and his shot curled around the post. A let-off for Milan who started to control the game from that point on, and they came close to breaking the deadlock multiple times in the opening 30 minutes.
Rafael Leao and Olivier Giroud both tested Fraser Forster with headers from close range, with Milan looking dangerous from set pieces and crosses. Charles De Ketelaere had the best of the early chances though when he rolled the ball past Eric Dier before taking aim, but a fantastic save again from Forster kept the score level.
Towards the end of the half, Spurs looked to start gaining some confidence in attack as Ivan Perisic and Heung-Min Son caused problems down the left. But, in the first minute of first-half added time, the hosts took the lead from a corner.
Alexis Saelemaekers curled a cross towards the back post, and some poor defending from Spurs allowed Simon Kjaer to meet the cross under little pressure. The Danish defender guided his header across goal and into the bottom corner to send Milan ahead.
Spurs struggled to create anything dangerous in the second half as every attack disintegrated in the final third. Kane had the chance to make it 1-1 in the 84th minute when he latched onto a loose pass and rounded the keeper, but his touch took him too wide of the goal as his shot hit the side netting.
FIFA 23 predicted score: AC Milan 1-0 Spurs
Here are the full-time match stats:
FIFA 23 predicts that Spurs could find it difficult against AC Milan on Tuesday night, losing 1-0 in the simulation. Conte's side found it tough to create many big chances in the game, but the two big opportunities that fell their way were squandered, with the Lillywhites needing to be clinical in front of goal if they want to take an advantage into the second leg.
What do you think the final score will be? Let us know in the comments
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