Benevento Vs AC Milan
Benevento Vs AC Milan Sunday 3rd January 2021 – 17:00 (kick-off)
Italian Serie A
Pick: AC Milan to Win & Both Teams to Score
Odds: 2/1
Bookmaker: Bet365
(All betting odds correct at time of writing: 1st January 2021)
Preview: With their lead atop Serie A reduced to a single point, will AC Milan maintain that slender advantage with victory over an improving Benevento outfit, who will no doubt be keen on the prospect of adding further daylight between themselves and the danger zone.
Italian Serie A Betting at Bet365
Table of Contents
Benevento – Will Inzaghi’s troops pick up where they left off in 2020?
Just when it seemed this team were hitting their stride, the league packs up for winter. Which is a shame as Benevento (W5 D3 L6) are now at risk of seeing their hard earned momentum, when putting together a productive seven-game sequence before Christmas comprising three wins and only one defeat, ebb away. They will resume in tenth, though, some eight points clear of the relegation zone.
Last season’s Serie B champions looked at one stage as though they might ebb away themselves when losing four consecutive matches between 18 October and 7 November, in a run that seen them leak 13 goals. Five coming in one outing: a 5-2 result against Inter Milan here at Ciro Vigorito. However, Filippo Inzaghi must have read the riot act because his team have been reborn thereafter.
Across their past seven league games, Benevento have collected 12 of 21 points (W3 D3 L1), lost only once – by a single goal away at surprise package Sassuolo – and conceded just 0.42 goals per game. Moreover, they are now unbeaten at home in three, following up eye-catching 1-1 draws to both Juventus and Lazio with a “mature” performance, in the words of Inzaghi, in their 2-0 victory over Genoa.
AC Milan – Pioli’s feeling the strain out in front?
There was a definite wobble prior to Christmas, which is to be expected at some stage considering they had been near flawless beforehand. Yet if their standards did slip in mid-December with successive 2-2 draws to Genoa and Parma, currently 18th and 16th respectively, they rose again when seeing out 2020 with back-to-back wins over top of the table rivals Sassuolo and Lazio.
Unfortunately for AC Milan (W10 D4), their brief let up has allowed the chasing pack, namely rivals Inter, to close the gap on the summit to a single point. Any wriggle room has disappeared, therefore, while the ominous form of the latter, who have won all of their last seven league games, means any further slip up could result in the Rossoneri, who have led the league for much of the season, relinquishing top spot.
The goals continue to flow though, and, more often than not, at both ends. 10 of their last 11 Serie A game have seen three or more goals as well as both teams scoring, while they have remarkably scored two or more in all fourteen league games in 2020/21. That includes all seven away games, which they won six, boasting big victories on the road at Inter (1-2), Napoli (1-3) and Sassuolo (1-2).
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Benevento Vs AC Milan Betting Advice
Although they enter this fixture as considerable underdogs, the form Benevento were in before the break, coupled with performances against AC Milan the last time they were in Serie A, may give the league leaders cause for concern. The hosts had suffered one defeat in their final seven league games of 2020, rising to tenth in the table, and went unbeaten when these sides met in the league in 2017/18 – following up a 2-2 draw at home by winning 1-0 in Milan.
Benevento Vs AC Milan – Key Facts:
- At home in Serie A this season, Benevento have scored in six of seven matches and are currently unbeaten across the last three (W1 D2).
- AC Milan are the only remaining side in Serie A yet to lose in 2020/21, scoring at least twice in every fixture. They’ve won all but one of their seven away games (D1).
- In their only previous season in Serie A, in 2017/18, Benevento would claim a point at home to AC Milan (2-2) before registering a shock 1-0 win at the San Siro.
This may not be straightforward for AC Milan then. In fairness, they have seldom done it any other way this season. With one clean sheet from their previous eleven matches in Serie A, the Rossoneri have often relied on their relatively newfound ability of scoring at least twice to keep them ticking over, winning despite conceding on six occasions. Five of which were away from home having won all but one of six said fixtures.
Best Betting Odds – Benevento Vs AC Milan
Benevento – 19/4 (BetVictor)
Draw – 3/1 (Betway)
AC Milan – 3/5 (Unibet)
