A victory for either side could see them leapfrogging http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lazio-c39775 for the third position, provided the Biancazzurri lose the match against Catania, consequently the stakes are high.
Francesco Guidolin’s men will be hosting the Partenopei in matchday 28 of the Serie A at Stadio Friuli on Sunday, March 18 at 19:45 GMT.
Udinese come into this game on the back of a victory in Europe against AZ Alkmaar; however the margin was not enough to keep them in the competition, as they crashed out of the Europa League.
Napoli come on the back of their European endeavours as well, losing out to Chelsea in the second-leg of the Last 16 tie at the Stamford Bridge.
The moods of the two teams would be similar, but there will be some key differences as follows.
Udinese
The Udine-based club have had the better of Napoli in recent encounters, winning three of the last four head to head matches. The Zebrette do not have the best of results at home of late, and have not won
their last three matches at Friuli.
Despite this recent statistic they have won 10 of their last 14 ties at home.
The last four matches for the Bianconeri have culminated in only one victory, and include the shock defeat to Novara.
Napoli
The reverse fixture of this tie was won by Napoli. Walter Mazzarri’s men have won their last five matches in the Serie A, and this surge of results has led to the Partenopei climbing up the table. However,
the Azzurri do not have a prolific away record, as they have only won five of the 13 matches away from San Paolo.
Team News
Udinese
The Zebrette will be without the services of the Ghanaian http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mauricio-Isla-c24922 remains,
as he seems destined to miss out the remainder of the season due to his cruciate ligament injury earlier in the season.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/AZ-c38571, and he will be expected to start given the crunch situation that has developed of late.
Probable starting eleven: Handanovic, Ferronetti, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Danilo-c10159, Domizzi, Ekstrand, Pinzi, Pazienza, Asamoah, Armer, Floro Flores, Di Natale
SSC http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Napoli-c40003
The Partenopei would be probably without http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gianluca-Grava-c14824 are set to sit out the match against the Friuli outfit.
On a positive note, Blerim Dzemaili will be making his way back into the side after sitting out his suspension in the match against Cagliari.
Probable starting eleven: De Sanctis; Campagnaro, Britos, Aronica; Zuniga, Dzemaili, Inler, Dossena; Hamsik, Pandev; Cavani
Players to Watch
Antonio Di Natale (Udinese)
The Italian hit-man has been in exceptional form for the Bianconeri this season, scoring 24 goals in all competitions for his team, and 18 times in the 25 Serie A matches. He will be looking to impress yet
again in order to earn a place in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Italy-c2926 squad for Euro 2012.
Marek Hamsik (Napoli)
The influence of the Slovenian can be seen from his stats of this season, and Napoli have not lost in any away game in which Hamsik has scored. Guidolin would be keen to stop the Napoli trio to subside their
attacking threat.
Prediction
Udinese have not been in the best of forms of late and this is eminent from their recent strings of results, but they would be hopeful that Di Natale can provide them with the victory they need. However,
Napoli have been in scintillating form of late and might have too much about for the Bianconeri to handle.
Verdict: 1-2
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