AC Milan begin their Coppa Italia campaign with a home tie against Serie A strugglers Cagliari in the round of 16 at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Tuesday night.

The Rossoneri will look to avoid the fate of city rivals Inter, whose defence of the trophy ended in defeat to Bologna last month, when they face a Sardinian side that have already knocked Palermo and Udinese out of the competition.

Match Odds

Despite going out at the same stage to Torino last year, AC Milan are as short as 2/5 to secure their passage to the quarter-finals without the need for extra-time.

Cagliari, who have lost seven of their last eight away Serie A games, are 11/2 for the win, with the draw at 10/3.

Both teams to score, which has landed in only one of AC Milan's last eight home league games, is available at 4/5, with the ‘No’ at 10/11 while over 3.5 total goals is on offer at 13/8.

Team News

Stefano Pioli is likely to rest either Rafael Leao or Christian Pulisic and Olivier Giroud could also begin the game on the bench as others get a chance.

Samuel Chukwueze could play before he joins up with the Nigeria squad at the Africa Cup of Nations, but Ismael Bennacer, Fikayo Tomori, Pierre Kalulu, Malick Thiaw, Marco Sportiello, Tommaso Pobega and Noah Okafor are all missing with injuries.

As for Cagliari, only Eldor Shomurodov, Marko Rog and Nahitan Nandez are ruled out through injury while midfielder Antoine Makoumbou is available to play again after suspension.

AC Milan to win & over 2.5 goals @ 21/20

A 1-0 home defeat to Torino after extra time meant the Rossoneri's involvement in the cup was over almost as soon as it began last season, but the scoreline gave a false reflection of the game.

AC Milan absolutely dominated their opponents, producing 32 total shots, hitting the woodwork and missing plenty of other good chances to go ahead before the visitors' late sucker punch.

Pioli rested most of his big guns, but kept the likes of Giroud, Leao, Bennacer and Theo Hernandez on the bench as insurance options, so a similar approach should be expected.

Claudio Ranieri's Rossoblu, who remain stuck in the bottom three at Christmas, have managed to gather just two away points from a possible 27 this season.

But they knocked Udinese out in the last 32 on the road courtesy of a 120th-minute winner and also scored away at Juventus and Napoli.

Whether Cagliari score or not, Milan could be capable of scoring three goals in the game themselves with greater finishing efficiency than at this stage last season.

Samuel Chukwueze to score anytime @ 9/4

Chukwueze is being tipped to feature from the start in this Coppa clash before he heads off to the Ivory Coast for the upcoming international tournament.

The Nigerian forward has not scored a Serie A goal in 14 appearances but has bagged two Champions League goals in just three starts and one substitute outing.

That almost mirrors his record from last season at Villarreal when he scored seven cup goals in 13 appearances and only six in 37 league matches.

Chukwueze appears to be a cup specialist and should offer some value as an anytime goalscorer selection.

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