AC Milan vs Udinese

AC Milan’s pursuit of their first Serie A title in over a decade continues this weekend as they welcome bottom-half Udinese to the Stadio San Siro.

A 2-2 draw away to Salernitana extended Milan’s unbeaten run in Serie A to four matches (W2, D2), keeping their hopes of claiming their first Scudetto since 2010/11 alive. Sitting two points clear at the Serie A summit, ‘I Rossoneri’ are looking to improve upon their underwhelming five-game league form on home turf (W2, D1, L2). Since they are unbeaten in all four top-flight meetings with Udinese under the stewardship of Stefano Pioli (W2, D2), this encounter appears to be a perfect opportunity for Milan to retain their place at the top of the Serie A table. Despite their recent home wobble, Pioli’s men have kept a clean sheet in their last two Serie A matches at the San Siro and could make it three in a row for the first time since October 2020.

In the meantime, Udinese’s 1-1 home draw with Lazio last time out left them with a single win from six Serie A outings this calendar year (D2, L3), as a season-long fight against the drop looks inevitable. Now only three points clear of the relegation zone, ‘I Friulani’ head to the San Siro on a run of three away league games without a win (D1, L2), drawing a blank on each occasion. Udinese’s seasonal record on the road doesn’t offer much comfort to the travelling supporters (W2, D4, L6), especially as either of those victories came at the expense of fellow relegation rivals Spezia and Cagliari. Conceding first would spell disaster for the visitors’ hopes of staying unbeaten here, as they’ve lost eight of their 11 Serie A fixtures when falling behind this season (D3).