Charlie Nicholas thinks Arsenal will beat AC Milan, with Danny Welbeck scoring the first goal of the game, despite all their recent struggles.

Nicholas told Sky Sports that he expects Arsene Wenger’s men to step up for the Europa League tie.

At this stage, the competition is Arsenal’s only real hope for Champions League qualification next year.

As a result, the former Gunner thinks they’ll do enough to overcome the current Milan side.

“AC Milan are bog standard and don’t score many goals, sat seventh in Serie A with just 37 goals scored and 30 conceded,” Nicolas pointed out. “They’re far from the football machine of days gone by.

“At least Arsenal have goals in them and this is the competition they’re all in for. I actually think they are value in them as outsiders to win on Thursday night.”

Nicolas’ final prediction was a 2-1 win for Arsenal with Welbeck to score first. If he’s right, it will be the first time both teams score in the same match.

Milan may not have scored many this season, but they’re not doing too badly at the moment. In their last five matches they’ve scored seven, and conceded none. They didn’t score in their most recent game against Lazio, but won the cup tie on penalties anyway and many think they are in their best run of form for some time.

By comparison, Arsenal have scored five and conceded 10 in their last five matches.

During that run, the team have only managed to score more than one in a game once, and that was against Aly Keita and Östersund – a completely different proposition to Gianluigi Donnarumma and Milan.