While Milan will finish the campaign in second place regardless of the outcome of this match, Zenit need to better the result of Anderlecht in the final round in order to achieve a third-place finish. With both sides nurturing attack-minded football, we should see a highly entertaining encounter at San Siro.

AC Milan finally back in business

AC Milan paid a heavy price for their decision to sell Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva in the summer, while also letting go a number of experienced footballers. Taking also into account numerous injuries to the playing squad, Milan were always going to have massive problems this season, and they indeed needed a lot of time to hit the ground running. While struggling to climb to the top half of Serie A standings, the Rossoneri managed to secure their place in the Champions League knockout stages, which allowed them to fully focus on their league campaign. Back to back victories over Juventus and Catania were seen as a major boost to the players’ confidence, while these saw the team climb to seventh in the overall standings. Having won last three matches in all competitions, the Rossoneri will give their best to keep the momentum going and beat Zenit as well, even if the final result will make no difference to their position in the standings.

Philippe Mexes misses out through suspension, but Ignazio Abate and Christian Abbiati are back to the side.

Disappointing campaign for Zenit

After reinforcing their star-studded squad with the likes of Hulk and Witsel, Zenit were seen as one of the favourites to progress from Group C, but the Russian side desperately failed to prove their worth in the Champions League. Having picked up just 4 points from first 5 games, Luciano Spalletti’s team now need to try and get at least one point from San Siro, but only a win would guarantee them a third place in the standings. Zenit have been showing some improvement of late, outplaying Malaga and CSKA Moscow before recording a 4-2 win over Spartak at the weekend, and these fine showings should keep the team in good stead before the clash at San Siro. The record of three wins in last five away games can also give the visitors much needed reason for optimism.

Vladimir Bystrov is suspended, while Aleksandar Lukovic, Alexander Kerzhakov, Domenico Criscito and Renat Yanbaev also miss out.

Verdict

With Milan hoping to continue the good run of results and Zenit needing a win in order to secure the third place in the standings, there is very chance we will see a high-scoring game at San Siro. While the final outcome may be difficult to predict, betting on goals should prove profitable.

Top pick: Over 2.5 goals   1.95 (19/20) @ Betfair

Alternative pick 1: Both teams to score   1.73 (8/11) @ bet365

Alternative pick 2: Over 3.5 goals   3.50 (5/2) @ Coral