Defending champions Milan will take on last season’s bottom-half strugglers Udinese in a curtain-raising 2022/23 Serie A fixture at San Siro. Saturday’s encounter in Lombardy marks the beginning of Rossoneri’s bid to win back-to-back league crowns for the first time in the 21st century.
Milan headed into last season as only third-favourites to claim the Scudetto. However, Stefano Pioli’s relatively juvenile team defied the odds to bring home a first top-flight title since 2010/11. Aided by one key component in the form of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, they left dethroned holders Inter two points behind.
On the other hand, Udinese spent most of the 2021/22 Serie A season wandering in the bottom half of the table. Yet, the appointment of Gabriele Cioffi as an interim boss in December transformed the Friulians from one of the hottest relegation candidates into legitimate top-half contenders.
The highly anticipated 2022/23 Serie A season is just around the corner as we take a closer look at this exciting opening fixture.
Match Preview
Milan
It’s been an agonisingly long title wait at San Siro, but Pioli’s men made the supporters’ patience worthwhile in a remarkable fashion. You’d have to go back to January for Rossoneri’s last Serie A defeat. Since a 2-1 downing to Spezia at home, Milan went on to put together an astonishing 16-game unbeaten league streak (W11, D5).
An eye-catching run of six consecutive Serie A victories at the tail-end of last season, including a 3-0 romping of Sassuolo on the final weekend, fired Milan to a long-awaited 19th Scudetto. Keen to put a second star on their jersey, Pioli’s men will be out to close the gap on the record-time Italian champions Juventus this season.
Udinese’s visit to San Siro on Saturday bodes well for their bid to start the new top-flight campaign on the right footing. Indeed, Milan have only lost one of their last 15 home league matches against the Friulians (W8, D6), netting an average of 2.2 goals per game in that sequence.
Yet, both Serie A duels between these teams in 2021/22 yielded an identical 1-1 scoreline.
Udinese
A hard-fought draw on their most recent visit to Lombardy gives Udinese plenty to look forward to in this tasty-looking fixture. But the Friulians made a bit surprising decision over the summer. Instead of giving Cioffi the benefit of the doubt, they opted for Andrea Sottil to take charge of the team at the expense of the new Hellas Verona boss.
Sottil could not have asked for a sterner assignment on his managerial debut at Udinese. His men have pulled off just one victory in their last ten Serie A meetings with Milan (D5, L4) and are without a clean sheet at San Siro since 2016. However, three of their four most recent top-flight outings at this venue against the Rossoneri featured the same 1-1 scoreline.
Udinese’s habit of faltering early in a season has seen them win their curtain-raising Serie A clash only once across the last six campaigns (D2, L3). But if you’re looking for an omen, that triumph came against Milan of all sides back in 2019/20.
Team News
Marquee summer signings Divock Origi and Charles De Keteleare are both in contention for the opening day clash. But the former failed to make a single pre-season appearance for Milan, while the latter joined the club less than a week ago. It means none should make Pioli’s starting line-up.
With Ibrahimovic and Sandro Tonali unavailable to injuries and Olivier Giroud dealing with a minor muscle problem, maybe both could register their debuts this weekend after all.
As for Udinese, Tolgay Arslan is the only high-profile first-team member to have a question mark over his head ahead of the kick-off. But they lost star defender Nahuel Molina to Atletico Madrid in the summer.
Molina’s exit could prove detrimental to their hopes of keeping last season’s Serie A MVP award winner Rafael Leao at bay.
Milan vs Udinese Potential Line-ups
Milan (4-2-3-1): Mike Maignan; Davide Calabria, Simon Kjaer, Fikayo Tomori, Theo Hernandez; Ismael Bennacer, Yacine Adli; Rafael Leao, Charles De Ketelaere, Junior Messias; Olivier Giroud.
Udinese (3-5-2): Marco Silverstri; Rodrigo Becao, Adam Masina, Bram Nuytinck; Brandon Soppy, Tolgay Arslan, Jean-Victor Makengo, Roberto Pereyra, Destiny Udogie; Gerard Deulofeu, Beto.