AC Milan v Chelsea: How to back a 19/2 Chelsea win

• Chelsea after back-to-back wins
• Sterling impressive in Europe
• How to back a 10.519/2 away win
• This is a Bet 5 Get 5 fixture at Betfair - Bet here!

After recording a comfortable victory over AC Milan at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea can move one step closer to the Champions League knockout stages by completing a double over the Serie A champions after a 3-0 home win.

Graham Potter's team are coming into the game off the back of a stroll in the park against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.

The victory saw Christian Pulisic and Armando Broja both open their account for the season, and the Blues have now won three in a row under their new manager since the international break.

Three points for the visitors would cement their place ahead of the Rossoneri in group E, though there will still be work to do to clinch a last-16 spot.

Milan themselves responded well to their defeat in London, beating Juventus in Saturday, and Tuesday's game looks like being a close one.

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A record to protect

Chelsea's victory last time out means they are yet to taste defeat against Milan in three Champions League clashes. The two teams last met in the 1999-2000 group stage, drawing 0-0 at Stamford Bridge and 1-1 at the San Siro, with the Premier League side going on to reach the quarter-finals.

Despite having a number of Italian managers in the dugout over the years, Chelsea have struggled on recent trips to the country.

Their last seven away games in Italy have brought six defeats and one draw, with the most recent match against a Serie A club seeing Federico Chiesa score the only goal of the game for Juventus.

To find Chelsea's last away win in Italy, you have to fo all the way back to 2003, when Claudio Ranieri was in charge.

On that occasion, they put four unanswered goals past Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico, with former Lazio striker Hernán Crespo opening the scoring against his old club.

Playing for both sides

Each team could well line up with a central defender who once wore the colours of their opponent.

Fikayo Tomori came through the Chelsea academy before moving to the San Siro, while Thiago Silva - an evergreen presence at the back for Potter's team - playing Champions League football for Milan in his three years with the club.

If Silva plays on Tuesday, it will be his 100th Champions League game and his 20th for Chelsea to go along with 20 for Milan and 60 for Paris Saint-Germain.

Only four other Brazilians have more appearances in the competition, and he could yet overtake Marcelo (102 games) and Fernandinho (103) before the end of this season.

Tomori, meanwhile, has lifted himself back into England contention with his form in Serie A.

Last season's title win was followed by a first senior international appearance of 2022, and the 24-year-old was also on the bench when Gareth Southgate's team took on Italy at his home club stadium in September.

Differing fortunes last term

Last season was a real contrast for these teams, both at home and on the continent. And while Chelsea 2.407/5 made more progress than Milan 3.309/4 in Europe, their domestic issues last term - followed by their multiple woes this term - played a part in Thomas Tuchel's sacking.

For the Rossoneri, the scudetto made up for a terrible showing in Europe, with just one win from six group games.

Chelsea were also in title contention at home for the first half of the campaign but fell away badly, and Real Madrid's knockout win meant there was no chance of making up for that with a European trophy as in 2020-21.

Milan's group stage loss at home to Liverpool last term was one of four defeats from their last five games against English visitors.

That run includes Europa League eliminations at the hands of Manchester United and Arsenal, the former during United's run to the final of the competition in 2021.

AC Milan v Chelsea prediction

The result could well hinge on the performances of the clear danger-men for these two sides.

Chelsea landed summer target Raheem Sterling, who has hit the ground running, but Rafael Leão stayed with Milan and has continued to show his class.

Portugal international Leão has more dribbles, assists and touches in the opposition box than any other Milan player this season, and impressed away to Chelsea even though he was unable to find the net.

Sterling's record in this competition speaks for itself, with 23 goal involvements in his last 30 games in the competition for Chelsea and previous club Manchester City.

While Chelsea were able to keep their opponents at bay last time out, it could be a different story this time. It's a game which suggests goals, but if Chelsea get more of them than their opponents then things will suddenly be looking much rosier after a slow start.