Udinese will welcome Lecce to Dacia Arena this Friday as both sides battle for maximum points in the 13th Round fixture of the 2022/23 Serie A season.
Venue: Dacia Arena (Udine)
Key Statistics
Udinese have failed to score in two of their last three league games.
They have won eleven of their last 14 Serie A home games against Lecce at home (L3).
The hosts have not kept a clean sheet in their last four games at home.
Lecce are the only Serie A side this term yet to concede an away goal beyond the one-hour mark.
The visitors have won just one away game this season (D1, L4).
They have not recorded a clean sheet in the league this season.
Head to head
Udinese have won six of the last ten meetings between both sides in all competitions (D2, L2).
Latest performances in all competitions
Udinese: D-L-L-D-D
Lecce: L-L-D-L-D
Udinese
It has been a rough few weeks for Udinese who are still looking for just their second win since returning from the September international break.
The hosts enjoyed a memorable run early this season when they went on a six-game-winning run and a seven-game unbeaten run in the league. However, since beating Verona 2-1 in early October to sit second in the table, it has been a fall from grace to grass as the Udine-based side have now gone five games without a win (D3, L2).
Their last outing was a goalless draw with lowly Cremonese. The result was the second time in their last three outings that they failed to score and so Andre Sottil will have to address their scoring concern if they want to get back to winning ways.
They have a golden opportunity to boost both their morale and points tally as they will be facing consecutive games against current relegation-threatened teams before the World Cup hiatus begins.
They will be confident of winning this game, especially as it is coming at the Dacia Arena, where Udinese have won 11 of their 14 Serie A home H2Hs (L3). Although they are coming off a loss in their most recent league games at home game, at least those recent scoring woes may be rectified, having netted in six straight home matches.
Possible Udinese starting line-up
Marco Silvestri; Enzo Ebosse, Jaka Bijol, Nehuen Perez, Roberto Pereyra, Iyenoma Udogie; Lazar Samardzic, Walace, Tolgay Arslan; Gerard Deulofeu, Isaac Success.
Injured: Sandi Lovric, Rodrigo Becao
Doubtful: Adam Masina
Suspended: None
Lecce
Like their hosts, Lecce also come into this tie without a win in their last five games (D2, L3).
The visitors were narrowly beaten 1-0 by Juventus last time out, taking their points tally for the season to just eight points (W1, D5, L6). And so, they come into this round of games sitting just two points ahead of the relegation teams.
But despite their lowly league position, the visitors are no pushovers as they possess the best defensive record among the ten sides to start the round in the bottom half having conceded just 15 goals.
But there is nothing to boast about in being defensively average with nothing to show for it and so they need to bounce back from a five-game drought (D2, L3) to avoid spending the break in the relegation zone.
While their recent away league record (W1, D1, L4) doesn’t appear threatening on paper, they are the only away team to have taken points off leaders Napoli (1-1). The visitors can also frustrate teams as matches go on, as no side has drawn more second halves on the road than Lecce (2H: D5, L1) this season, and they will fancy their chances of extending that squeeze against a struggling top-six aspirant.
Possible Lecce starting line-up
Wladimiro Falcone; Federico Baschirotto, Marin Pongracic, Samuel Umtiti, Antonino Gallo; Alexis Blin, Morten Hjulmand, Joan Gonzalez; Gabriel Strefezza, Assan Ceesay, Remi Oudin.
Injured: None
Doubtful: None
Suspended: None
Prediction
Udinese 2-1 Lecce
