Champions League football is at stake as Juventus travel to the Dacia Arena to lock horns with Udinese in a must-win Serie A clash. A return of a single win from their last three league games has compromised the reigning champions’ hopes of landing a top-four finish.
Following AC Milan’s 2-0 home victory over Benevento, the Bianconeri can ill-afford a slip-up in Udine as they take the field three points adrift of fourth-placed Rossoneri. On the other hand, the Friulians enjoy exquisite comfort of mid-table, eight points clear of relegation-threatened Benevento.
Udinese vs Juventus Head-To-Head
A comprehensive 4-1 triumph in the reverse fixture at the Allianz Stadium gives Juventus a chance of claiming a third Serie A double over Udinese in four years.
Before succumbing to a 2-1 defeat in their most recent league visit to the Dacia Arena, the perennial Italian champions were undefeated in nine consecutive top-flight matches in Udine (W6, D3). Andrea Pirlo’s men have netted 14 goals across their last five away Serie A meetings with Udinese, recording an average of 2.8 per game.
Teams Recent Forms
Udinese came out on top of a six-goal thriller at Benevento last time out, securing a 4-2 victory to record only their second win in seven league outings (D1, L4).
Luca Gotti’s players have alternated low and high-scoring contests lately. Two of their last five Serie A matches have yielded the identical 1-0 scoreline (W1, L1), with the remaining three fixtures in that sequence seeing over 2.5 goals and both teams scoring.
The hosts have experienced a massive dip in home form ahead of this encounter, going from three straight Serie A victories at the Dacia Arena to three consecutive losses. Curiously, each contest won/lost in that spread of games saw the winner on the day keep a blank sheet in matches garnering under 2.5 total goals.
Meanwhile, Juventus have accrued win, draw and loss from their last three Serie A games, conceding the opening goal on each occasion.
Away from home, the Turin giants have picked up just one triumph in their last six league matches (D3, L2), frustratingly bagging under 1.5 goals five times in the process. Overall this season, the visitors have managed an average of 1.75 goals per Serie A trip.
To improve their hopes of winning, the Bianconeri will have to put in a solid first-half performance, given their inability to bounce back after succumbing to a half-time deficit. Pirlo’s men have failed to win any of the four away league games in which they were trailing at the interval this term (D2, L2).
On the bright side, though, Juventus have successfully negotiated six of their last seven Serie A showdowns against Udinese, with a 2-1 defeat in last season’s Matchday 35 solitary exception.
Predicted Line-ups
Udinese (3-5-2): Juan Musso; Rodrigo Becao, Kevin Bonifazi, Bram Nuytinck; Nahuel Molina, Tolgay Arslan, Wallace, Roberto Pereyra, Jens Stryger Larsen; Stefano Okaka, Fernando Llorente
Juventus (4-4-2): Wojciech Szczesny; Alex Sandro, Leonardo Bonucci, Matthijs De Ligt, Danilo; Weston McKennie, Rodrigo Bentancur, Arthur, Juan Cuadrado; Paulo Dybala, Cristiano Ronaldo