Serie A: Inter Out to Stop Upstart Udinese

Udinese vs Inter Milan

Udinese have been one of the big surprises of the Serie A season thus far. I Friulani are flying high in fourth thanks to a four-game winning run.

But Udinese’s win streak will be in serious threat this weekend as they host Inter Milan at the Stadio Friuli.

The Nerazzurri are just one point behind Udinese in the Serie A standings and will be hoping to get a winning run going after some recent setbacks.

Talking Points

Udinese on the up

Udinese are the in-form team in Serie A at the moment. After going winless in their first two games, the Friulani are winners of four in a row and have vaulted up to fourth in the table.

By far the most eye-catching of those four straight wins was their 4-0 demolition of Jose Mourinho’s Roma. And they followed that up with another impressive 3-1 win away to Sassuolo.

Beto has been a key part of Udinese’s recent success. The Portuguese striker has four goals in the last four games despite not being a regular starter for coach Andrea Sottil.

Gerard Deulofeu – formerly of Barcelona, Everton, and Watford – has been continued his fine form from last season, where he had a team-leading 13 goals with five assists. The Spanish forward already has three assists and has started in all six of the team’s Serie A matches.

Meanwhile, the two wing-backs, Roberto Pereyra, and Destiny Udogie, have been in fantastic form and are providing plenty of Serie A 2022 highlights. Pereyra has a goal and three assists over his last two games, while 19-year-old Udogie – who will be headed to Tottenham next season – has two goals of his own.

Those two wing-backs will once again have an important role to play on both ends against Inter, who also rely heavily on their wing-backs in attack.

Inter yet to fully impress

The Serie A 2022 odds had Inter Milan among the favourites for the Scudetto this season, but the Nerazzurri have not gone off to the most impressive of starts this season.

They recently had a run of three defeats in four games, although those defeats came in tough games away to Lazio (3-1), AC Milan (4-2), and at home to Bayern Munich in the Champions League (0-2).

But in their most recent Serie A match, they once again looked unconvincing as they needed a late winner from Marcelo Brozovic to edge past Torino last time out. That win lifted Inter up to sixth in the standings, two points off top spot.

The absence of Romelu Lukaku has been a big blow to Inter. The Belgian star has been missing the last few matches with a thigh injury and will not be back until after the international break.

But Simone Inzaghi will be encouraged by Edin Dzeko’s strong showing against Viktoria Plzen in midweek. The Bosnian had a goal and an assist in Inter’s 2-0 win and will likely partner Lautaro Martinez up front against Udinese.

Inzaghi made a few more changes in the Plzen match, including replacing the out-of-form centre-back Stefan de Vrij for Francesco Acebri. It remains to be seen whether Inzaghi will bring back de Vrij against Udinese, but Lautaro and Hakan Calhanoglu, who were also rested in midweek, are expected to return to the starting lineup.

History

Inter have dominated Udinese in Serie A over the years. The Nerazzurri have won 19 of their last 29 league meetings, with Udinese winning just four.

Inter are currently on a nine-match unbeaten run against Udinese, with seven wins and two draws. They did the double over Udinese last season; they won 2-1 at the Stadio Friuli after goals from Ivan Perisic and Lautaro Martinez, then won 2-0 at the San Siro thanks to a Joaquin Correa brace.

Betting Tip

SBOTOP odds have Inter installed as 1.93 favourites over Udinese, who are priced at 3.65 to extend their win streak to five games. A draw is similarly priced at 3.60.

This is a hard match to call given Udinese’s fine form coupled with Inter’s indifferent start. As they showed against Roma, Udinese are clearly capable of causing Inter some problems. But it would be foolish to underestimate Inter, who are still a dangerous side to go up against.

That’s why I’m sitting on the fence in this match as I foresee both sides settling for a draw in what should be an entertaining battle at the Stadio Friuli.

 

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