AC Milan vs Udinese Preview & Prediction | 2024-25 Italian Serie A
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AC Milan started the season really slowly, looked to have found some form and then lost that form again before the October international break. They take on one of the surprise packages of the Serie A season so far as Udinese make the trip to San Siro.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Saturday 19th October, 2024 - UK – 5:00pm / US ET – 12:00pm / US PT – 9:00am
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: UK – Not televised / US – Select matches will be televised on CBS Sports so it is worth checking their schedule
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: UK – OneFootball / US – Paramount+
AC MILAN PREVIEW: PRESSURE ON PAULO
Following the departure of 2022 Serie A winning coach Stefano Pioli, AC Milan opted to replace him with former Lille, Shakhtar Donetsk and Roma boss Paulo Fonseca. Arguments with senior players and supporter unrest at his appointment has not helped him and they have started the season quite poorly.
The Derby della Madonnina victory against Internazionale last month gave them hope of having turned a corner but they went into the October international break on the back of a defeat to Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Champions League before then suffering a frustrating 2-1 defeat to Fiorentina at the Artemio Franchi.
UDINESE PREVIEW: POZZO FOCUS
Due to narrowly avoiding the drop on the final day of last season and Watford’s stagnation in the Championship, the Pozzo family have turned their attention back to Udinese. The Friulians begin this weekend’s round of fixtures having reaped the rewards of that renewed focus as they sit tucked inside the top five.
The visitors come into this one on the back of recovering from back-to-back losses, Udinese earned a much-needed 1-0 defeat of Lecce at the Bluenergy Stadium a couple of weeks ago before the October international break with Zimbabwe international defender Jordan Zemura scoring a 75th minute winner.
AC MILAN TEAM NEWS: INJURY ISSUES
One of those key players that has fallen out with Paulo Fonseca is Theo Hernandez and the France international is unavailable for this one due to suspension.
As well as the absence of Hernandez, the Rossoneri also have some experienced players out injured such as Marco Sportiello, Davide Calabria and Alessandro Florenzi.
PREDICTED XI (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Emerson Royal, Gabbia, Tomori, Thiaw; Fofana, Reijnders; Pulisic, Alvaro Morata, Leao; Abraham
UNAVAILABLE: Sportiello (Injured), Calabria (Injured), Florenzi (Injured), Hernandez (Suspended), Bennacer (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
UDINESE TEAM NEWS: STILL NO ALEXIS
Alexis Sanchez returned to Udinese over the summer but he has yet to make a second debut for the club and he remains unavailable now, too, with a thigh injury.
The visitors are also missing a couple of other key first-teamers as Thomas Kristensen and former Middlesbrough midfielder Martin Payero are sidelined.
PREDICTED XI (3-5-2): Okoye; Kabasele, Bijol, Toure; Ehizibue, Oier Zarraga, Karlstrom, Ekkelenkamp, Zemura; Lucca, Brenner
UNAVAILABLE: Kristensen (Injured), Payero (Injured), Sanchez (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
AC MILAN VS UDINESE PREDICTION
Paulo Fonseca’s AC Milan are trying to play an entertaining style of football but the Rossoneri have struggled to find any consistency – which was an issue that he often found in previous jobs at Lille and Roma specifically. Udinese have been entertaining to watch this season but battened down the hatches to defeat Lecce a couple of weeks ago. Both teams scoring seems like a good bet for this one at San Siro.
AC MILAN VS UDINESE TIP: BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE
