Leading the battle for 'best of the rest' in Serie A at its halfway stage, Udinese aim to stay within striking distance of the top six on Monday, when they host relegation-threatened Hellas Verona.
The Friulani will be targeting just a second double over Hellas in Italy's top flight, but the visitors arrive at the Dacia Arena having won two of their last three games to revive hopes of survival.
Match preview
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After taking just three points from their previous six matches, played either side of the winter break, Udinese finally ended their winning drought last time out, as they edged past struggling Sampdoria with a late strike from Kingsley Ehizibue.
As a result, Andrea Sottil's side posted 28 points from their first 19 fixtures of the 2022-23 campaign - their first under the former Ascoli coach - which equals the club's best tally at the season's midpoint across the past decade.
Having also beaten Samp in Genoa after a 10-year wait, the Friulani are after successive league victories for the first time since October, when they posted six in a row amid a spectacular charge into Serie A's top four - incidentally, the last of those wins came against Verona.
Now distanced from the European challengers due to their mid-term downturn, Udinese were one of several teams to benefit from the downfall of crisis club Juventus, so moved into seventh place after their win at Marassi and are among the favourites to finish 'best of the rest' behind the division's top six.
Sottil has been dealt a serious blow by this week's news that star man Gerard Deulofeu must undergo knee surgery, so will hope others such as Lazar Samardzic can step into the breach when the Bianconeri tackle their latest visitors to the Dacia Arena on Monday evening.
After a 2-1 success at Stadio Bentegodi in October - when Jaka Bijol bagged a stoppage-time winner - Udinese could now win both Serie A fixtures against Verona for just the second time, but recent events may make that task tougher than it would have been just a few weeks ago.
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Apparently doomed to the drop under former coach Gabriele Cioffi - who was in charge at Udinese last year - Hellas have now won two of their last three games since Marco Zaffaroni stepped into the hotseat; taking over from interim appointment Salvatore Bocchetti, who is now one of Zaffaroni's assistants.
Last week's 2-0 defeat of Lecce - when in-form midfielder Darko Lazovic was on target again - meant the Scaligeri had won as many league matches in the space of a fortnight as in their previous 21 attempts.
They could now achieve successive Serie A wins for the first time in a year, and with his team still sitting five points adrift of safety with half the season played, Zaffaroni would dearly love to do so on Monday.
Verona have shipped the most goals from open play in Serie A this season - some 90% (28 out of 31) - so the former Monza boss has prioritised tightening things up at the back: a tally of only two goals conceded since the World Cup attests to that.
With both Rome clubs to come in their next three fixtures, the Gialloblu will want to continue their uptick against a side that has won just one of their last 11 in the top flight, while claiming a first away win in the process.
Team News
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In addition to the longer-term layoff of chief creator Gerard Deulofeu, who will be out of action for several weeks, Udinese could be without Roberto Pereyra on Monday, due to a minor injury.
Should Pereyra fail to recover in time, last week's matchwinner Kingsley Ehizibue would continue on the hosts' right flank, while Isaac Success and Beto are set to join forces up front in Deulofeu's absence; while the latter leads the scoring charts with seven, Success still awaits his first Serie A strike of the season.
Another misfiring striker, Thomas Henry, suffered an ACL injury last time out, so Verona have moved to acquire Ondrej Duda from FC Koln and CSKA Moscow's Adolfo Gaich to bolster their attack - both should arrive on loan, but neither will feature in Udine. The visitors are set to lose midfield regular Ivan Ilic, though, and a transfer to Torino would see him reunite with former Gialloblu boss Ivan Juric.
Ibrahim Sulemana should replace Ilic in midfield, while Giangiacomo Magnani is most likely to deputise for the suspended Pawel Dawidowicz in central defence.
Scorer of Verona's second goal last week, Darko Lazovic has now been directly involved in four from four Serie A matches so far in 2023 (three goals and one assist) - only three players have managed more throughout the top flight.
Udinese possible starting lineup:
Silvestri; Becao, Bijol, Perez; Ehizibue, Samardzic, Walace, Arslan, Udogie; Beto, Success
Hellas Verona possible starting lineup:
Montipo; Ceccherini, Hien, Magnani; Depaoli, Sulemana, Tameze, Doig; Lazovic, Lasagna; Djuric
We say: Udinese 1-1 Hellas Verona
Verona have scored the highest proportion of their Serie A goals in the first half this term (76%), while Udinese have conceded at the highest rate before the break (62%). Should those trends continue, an improving away side could take the lead on Monday, but their hosts should strike back to secure at least a point.
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Top tip
Jonathan O'Shea
