Newcastle United meet AC Milan at St James’ Park in a must-win concluding Group F clash in 2023-24 UEFA Champions League.
Victory will see Newcastle finish second if PSG fail to beat Borussia Dortmund, whilst a draw would be enough to achieve Europa League knockout qualification in third place unless PSG lose at Dortmund.
AC Milan meanwhile must beat Newcastle and hope that PSG lose elsewhere to snatch second and progression to the Last 16.
Team News
Newcastle have no fresh injury concerns to report after their Premier League loss at Tottenham, with Callum Wilson looking to start after he was used as a substitute in North London.
Dan Burn, Elliott Anderson (both back), Matt Targett (hamstring), Sven Botman (knee), Nick Pope, Jacob Murphy (both shoulder), Sandro Tonali (suspension), Joe Willock (Achilles), Harvey Barnes (foot) and Javier Manquillo (groin) remain absent.
AC Milan could be without Rafael Leao after the Portuguese forward was sidelined in recent weeks with a hamstring injury.
Marco Sportiello (calf), Malick Thiaw (hamstring), Pierre Kalulu (tendon), Marco Pellegrino (heel), Simon Kjaer (muscle) and Noah Okafor (thigh) remain ruled out.
When is Kick-Off?
Newcastle host AC Milan at St James’ Park in a 8pm GMT kick-off on Wednesday 13 December, live on TNT Sport 1 in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Newcastle drew 1-1 in their only previous competitive meeting against AC Milan, which came away at the San Siro in September 2023.
- AC Milan are visiting Newcastle at St James’ Park for the first time across all UEFA competitions.
- Bruno Guimaraes has been booked in each of Newcastle’s two home games in this group (W1, L1).
- AC Milan have failed to score in three of their five group matches (W1, D2, L2), including in their away trips to Borussia Dortmund and PSG.
Prediction
Having struggled badly with fatigue in their last two games which particularly showed against a relentless Tottenham press, Newcastle will need their home fans more than ever to motivate them on top of tighter defensive quality and a tidier end product.
Eddie Howe’s Magpies also need a slice of luck but after being denied a deserved win at PSG through inept refereeing and VAR, they must take that anger to fire them up to get their side of the task done at minimum.
AC Milan meanwhile know that the pressure is on them because only a win could see them advance but having failed to score in their two away games in this group, I do feel like they must come out and try to score first otherwise their best hope could be Europa League football.
Newcastle however have beaten three dificult opponents in their last three home games in all competitions, so I don’t see them fearing AC Milan and I do fancy them to nick this somehow for the home crowd.
Prediction: Newcastle 1-0 AC Milan
Result: Newcastle 1-2 AC Milan
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