Youthful PSV Eindhoven side face a mountain to climb as they battle AC Milan for a place in the Champions League group stages, although the hosts are banking on being in much better shape than their more illustrious opponents.

Despite mounting a serious title challenge last term, the Philips Stadium outfit ended up missing out on the league title for the third time in a row, but they somehow managed to claim the final Champions League berth.

The squad have since suffered major changes, with Kevin Strootman, Jeremain Lens, Marcelo, Dries Mertens and Erik Pieters leaving among others, while a number of footballers were brought to replace them.

Among them are Ji-Sung Park, Stijn Schaars, Adam Maher and Jeffrey Bruma, and it does appear as though boss Philip Cocu has already done well to rebuild the squad.

The 5-0 aggregate win over Zulte-Waregem certainly acted as a huge confidence boost, while 5-0 and 3-0 triumphs over NEC and Go Ahead Eagles created a perfect introduction into the AC Milan game.

And seeing as how their next opponents are still far from the desired form, you wouldn’t be too far off backing PSV at odds of 2.75 (7/4) offered at bet365.

While Luciano Narsingh remains sidelined, Belgian wonderkid Zakaria Bakkali has picked up a groin injury on international duty and he is a major doubt.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Zoet – Arias, Bruma, Rekik, Willems – Wijnaldum, Schaars, Maher – Jozefzoon, Matavz, Depay.

Considering everything thrown their way last term, Milan have got to be congratulated for not only achieving a third-place finish in Serie A, but also impressing in their Champions League campaign.

I couldn’t quite comprehend why Silvio Berlusconi was thinking about replacing Max Allegri, but the common sense eventually prevailed and the talented boss was allowed to continue at San Siro.

Continuity could prove to be the key this term seeing as how the Rossoneri go into the new season with virtually unchanged squad, although it is clear the team are still not at their best with a number of important players missing a big chunk of pre-season training.

Even so, team’s huge experience and tactical superiority should help them keep exciting PSV side at bay, with Milan 2.70 (17/10) at BetVictor to triumph in Eindhoven.

Mario Balotelli should be considered for a starting berth after resuming full training and he is 2.70 (17/10) with the same firm to score at any time.

Mattia De Sciglio, Robinho and Riccardo Saponara are unlikely to feature, whereas Kevin-Prince Boateng is likely to be preferred to M’Baye Niang.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): Abbiati – Abate, Zapata, Mexes, Emanuelson – Montolivo, De Jong, Nocerino – Boateng, Balotelli, El Shaarawy.

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