Champions League: Chelsea VS AC Milan preview: Prediction, Probable lineup, Head-to-head

After last week's 3-0 home victory, the Blues moved level on points with the Rossoneri, one point behind group leaders RB Salzburg.

Wesley Fofana, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Reece James led the way for the English team, who began their season with a 1-0 loss against Dinamo Zagreb that led to the dismissal of Thomas Tuchel.

Similar to Chelsea, Stefano Pioli's squad played to a 1-1 draw in Salzburg before defeating Zagreb 3-1 to get to the knockout round for the first time since 2013-14.

AC Milan is currently in fourth place in Serie A and has been rather impressive thus far this season. The Rossoneri defeated Juventus by a score of 2-0 over the weekend and will confidently enter this matchup.

Chelsea is now in fourth place in the Premier League rankings and has improved after a sluggish start to the season. Before this week, the Blues defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers by 3-0. They will have to work hard to reach a similar result this week.

Chelsea has a modest advantage over AC Milan in their head-to-head record, having won two of the six matches played between the two teams, compared to the Rossoneri's single victory.

AC Milan has not won any of their last five European matches against Chelsea, although they have never lost consecutive games to the Blues.

Potter will undoubtedly be seeking a double against Milan and hoping Salzburg loses ground against Dinamo Zagreb. Chelsea will be able to refocus on domestic obligations in the following weeks if they can qualify for the next round without much difficulty.

Chelsea predicted lineup

Thiago Silva could return to the Chelsea lineup for tonight's Champions League match against AC Milan, but N'Golo Kante will be out.

Kante's recovery from a hamstring injury suffered a setback during training, and he is joined in the treatment room by Hakim Ziyech and Wesley Fofana.

Mateo Kovacic, Reece James, Raheem Sterling, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Ben Chilwell are all expected to return to the starting lineup from Saturday's league match against Wolves, as outlined by head coach Potter.

Ruben Loftus-Cheek is expected to retain his central midfield position, while Kepa Arrizabalaga will continue between the pipes after a recent run in the lineup.

Probable lineup: Kepa; Chalobah, T Silva, Koulibaly; James, Loftus-Cheek, Kovacic, Chilwell; Sterling, Aubameyang, Mount

AC Milan predicted the lineup

Mike Maignan did not return after missing the match at Stamford Bridge. Milan's injury list previously included Alessandro Florenzi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Junior Messias, Simon Kjaer, Davide Calabria, and Alexis Saelemaekers.

Pioli is likely to make minor adjustments to the lineup, although it may resemble the starting lineup from the previous week. While no changes to the backline are anticipated, Theo Hernandez could return after recovering fitness. The leaders of the raid might use some rest.

Probable lineup: Tatarusanu, Krunic, Diaz, Leao, Giroud, Dest, Kalulu, Tomori, Hernandez, Bennacer, Tonali 

Chelsea vs AC Milan prediction

Milan's injury woes prohibit Pioli from naming his strongest possible starting eleven. They may have defeated Juventus, but Chelsea will present a different task, and they may have difficulty.

However, beating Milan at San Siro doesn't seem probable, as they'll be coming for revenge this time.

Final prediction: AC Milan 1-1 Chelsea