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After avoiding relegation on the final day of the season last year, new look Udinese started brightly with a 1-1 draw against Bologna and they now face a Lazio side that cruised to a comfortable 3-1 defeat of newly-promoted Venezia on the opening day of the season.
KICK-OFF DATE/TIME: Saturday 24th August, 2024 - UK – 5:30pm / US ET – 12:30pm / US PT – 9:30am
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+
UDINESE PREVIEW: FREEDOM OF THE FRIULIANS
With the Pozzo’s seemingly turning their attention and priority back to Udinese and away from Watford, the Friulians will be slightly excited about what this season has in store with the return of Alexis Sanchez as well as who they hope to be the next Alexis Sanchez in Damian Pizarro, who arrived from Colo Colo in Chile.
Under the new management of former Legia Warsaw boss Kosta Runjaic, Udinese went away to Bologna, who qualified for the UEFA Champions League last season, on the opening day of the season and came away with a creditable point in a game in which they were probably the better of the two sides.
LAZIO PREVIEW: BARONI GETTING HIS CHANCE
Marco Baroni performed a miracle to steer Hellas Verona away from the bottom three and the relegation places last season given their significant off-field issues and he was given the job at the Stadio Olimpico to try and find some stability after the short tenure of Igor Tudor, who replaced Maurizio Sarri in March.
Lazio began their new era in impressive fashion as they dispatched of newly-promoted Venezia in the capital. They went behind early on to the Venetians but that was soon cancelled out by Valentin Castellanos and then a Mattia Zaccgani penalty made it 2-1 before half-time before Giorgio Altare’s own goal in the 81st minute assured them of three points.
UDINESE TEAM NEWS: POTENTIAL DAMIAN PIZARRO DEBUT
After joining in the summer, Damian Pizarro was frustratingly injured for Udinese in their Coppa Italia first round clash against Avellino but he could come into the squad for this weekend.
Udinese have stuck with their back three system for this season, despite the changes that have been made, and they do remain without defender Thomas Kristensen for this weekend.
PREDICTED XI (3-4-1-2): Okoye; Nehuen Perez, Bijol, Giannetti; Ehizibue, Lovric, Payero, Kamara; Thauvin; Lucca, Brenner
UNAVAILABLE:
QUESTIONABLE: Kristensen (Injured)
LAZIO TEAM NEWS: UNCHANGED LAZIO
Marco Baroni’s first game in charge of Lazio saw the capital city club play a 4-3-3 system with new signing Tijjani Noslin forming a front three alongside goal scorers Valentin Castellanos and Zaccagni.
There is no expectation and no reason for Baroni to make any changes for this weekend with only defender Mario Gila remaining sidelined for the visitors due to injury.
PREDICTED XI (4-3-3): Provedel; Lazzari, Casale, Romagnoli, Marusic; Guendouzi, Rovella, Dele-Bashiru; Noslin, Valentin Castellanos, Zaccagni
UNAVAILABLE: Mario Gila (Injured)
QUESTIONABLE:
UDINESE VS LAZIO PREDICTION
Both of these sides have had positive and more upbeat summers than they have in the recent past. Udinese headed into the campaign with a sense of optimism and they will seek to transmit that onto the pitch in their first home game of the season, whilst Lazio are still adapting but appear to be adapting quite well to life under Baroni. This one might be quite an entertaining watch for the neutral.
UDINESE VS LAZIO TIP: BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE