Pre-season friendly preview and odds: Liverpool vs AC Milan

Pre-season friendly preview and odds: Liverpool vs AC Milan

July 31, 2016 03:05am - Levi`s Stadium, Santa Clara, California

International Champions Cup

Liverpool`s busy pre-season schedule continues with the second of their three International Champions cup fixtures as they face old European adversaries AC Milan in California on Sunday.

Liverpool looking for positive result after Chelsea defeat

The Reds first serious test of their pre-season campaign ended in defeat as they fell by a single Gary Cahill goal in their opening ICC match against Chelsea on Thursday night.

On Sunday, the Anfield club will play the second of three games in a six day period and will be looking to get back winning ways by beating one of their most respected European rivals.

With five friendlies already played, 10 goals scored and just one conceded, it has been a good pre-season for Jurgen Klopp`s men so far - however, a win against a top-level opponent would raise confidence levels ahead of the new season which is just two weeks away. Following this game, the Merseysiders will take on another Italian team, Roma, on US soil before heading back to the UK for a showpiece game against Barcelona at Wembley.

The two sides last met in this tournament two years ago when the English club ran out 2-0 winners in Charlotte, North Carolina. Prior to that, their only previous friendly encounter came in Madrid 14 years ago when the Reds once again prevailed (2-1).

Of course, the most famous match between the clubs was the 2005 Champions League final dubbed “The Miracle of Istanbul” when Rafa Benitez`s Liverpool came back from 3-0 down at halftime to win via a penalty shootout at the Ataturk Stadium. Carlo Ancelotti`s Milan side got their revenge two years later when they defeated the Reds in the final of the same competition by a 2-0 score-line in Athens.

The Serie A team come into this game with less pre-season action under their belts but with two wins to their name. They beat French side Bordeaux 2-1 two weeks again and then condemned former boss Carlo Ancelotti`s Bayern Munich side to a penalty shootout defeat following a 3-3 draw in their first ICC fixture.

Team news

Jurgen Klopp could hand game time to new signing Georginio Wijnaldum along with Simon Mignolet, Christian Benteke and Divock Origi who have all yet to feature in pre-season. One player who will not be in the squad is new goalkeeper, Loris Karius, who will be out for up to 10 weeks with a broken hand.

Other players who are in recovery from injury for the Reds include Marko Grujic (concussion), Lucas (hamstring) and Joel Matip (ankle).

Milan`s new signings Leonel Vangioni and Gianluca Lapadula will not feature on Sunday, having been left at the club`s training camp along with striker Carlos Bacca and defender Mattia Sciglio.

Recent form (All competitions)

Liverpool: LWWWW

AC Milan: WWLLW

Betting odds and tips

Liverpool have only conceded once in their five pre-season games so far and will be looking for another shut-out on Sunday. They have a few injury concerns but have plenty of quality waiting to step in and will cause problems for an AC Milan side that has had limited game time this summer.

You can back Liverpool to win at 11/10 with Bet365.

By Neil Morris

Go To bet365

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Liverpool v AC Milan Live Betting Odds - Elite Club Friendlies

Home Win	1/1
Draw	5/2
Away Win	13/5

30/07/2016     © Frixo 2024