Serie A Preview: A.C Milan vs. Udinese- Will the hosts register their first win?
Holders, A.C Milan will host impressive Udinese in what promises to be a mouth-watering Serie A contest at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Wednesday, September 21st, 2011.
The Rossoneri have had a poor start to the 2011/12 Serie A campaign and drew their opening fixture after going 2-0 down at home to http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lazio-c39775. Massimiliano Allegri’s men were comprehensively beaten 3-1 by Napoli in their second league
game at the Satdio San Paolo at the weekend.
On the other hand, Udinese have had a wonderful start to their campaign and have beaten Lecce and Fiorentina 2-0 respectively thus far. Francesco Guidolin’s men finished fourth last season and are looking to cement a place in the
top three this time around.
A.C Milan
The Champions played well against Walter Mazzarri’s men but http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Edinson-Cavani-c11955 was too hot for them to handle. Milan defended superbly in the 2-2 draw against Barcelona in a UEFA Champions League contest last week but were all over
the place in the Napoli game.
The Rossoneri have always struggled against the Bianconeri and have won only once in the last five matches against them. Manager, Massimiliano Allegri, is not panicking despite a poor start but has asked the defenders to tighten
up the things at the back. Milan had the best defensive record in the 2010/11 season but have let in 5 goals in 2 games thus far.
Udinese
The Bianconeri side has been impressive in both of their outings and have secured wins with a clean sheet. Guidolin’s men are yet to taste a defeat in their last five Serie A outings and have maintained a 100 percent win record.
Despite losing some of their star men during the summer, the Zebrette look ever so strong with the last two season’s top goal-scorer, Antonio Di Natale, performing as consistently as ever.
Team News
A.C Milan
The injury list continues to grow for the Champions as they are still missing most of their first-team stars. It is expected that Allegri will field the same line-up as he did against Napoli and will persist with the 4-3-1-2 formation.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alexandre-Pato-c4901 will continue playing upfront despite making an ill-matched strike force.
Expected line-up: Abbiati; Abate, Nesta, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Thiago-Silva-c34903, Antonini; Nocerino, Van Bommel, Seedorf; Aquilani; Pato, Cassano
Udinese
The visitors also face several injury concerns going into the game, as http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Damiano-Ferronetti-c9799 are all missing. However, there is some good news on the injury front as Kwadwo
Asamoah might recover from a foot injury to take part in the game.
Expected line-up: Handanovic; Benatia, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Danilo-c10159, Domizzi; Basta, Isla, Pinzi, Badu, Armero; Torje; Di Natale
Players to Watch
Alexandre Pato (A.C Milan)
After a brilliant game against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Napoli-c40003. Antonio Cassano fed the Brazilian with some delightful passes throughout the game but he failed to
take the chances. His partnership with the former Sampdoria star will be under the spot light once again as Milan continue to miss http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Zlatan-Ibrahimovic-c38029.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Antonio-Di-Natale-c6306 (Udinese)
Seems like the veteran striker has targeted a hat-trick of golden boot awards, as he has already scored two goals in as many matches. His performances will once again be key to his team’s success in the ongoing campaign as he is
the pivot around which Udinese evolve.
Prediction
Bettor.com predicts the hosts to prevail in a close finish at the San Siro.
Verdict: 3-2
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