AC Milan vs Udinese Match Analysis and Prediction

2 years ago 375

Serie A champions, AC Milan will start their defence of the Scudetto when they welcome Udinese to San Siro on Saturday night.

AC Milan managed to cap their recent resurgence by claiming the Scudetto last season, which ended their 11-year drought. Indeed Milan has been a force to reckon under Stefano Pioli who will be expecting his side to push for the title again this season.

Pioli has managed to keep most of his important players, with midfielder Franck Kessie the only major departure while he has added to his side the Belgian duo of Divock Origi and Charles de Ketelaere.

Milan had a good pre-season period, claiming four wins from their five friendly matches, winning the last three in a row – including the 6-1 win over Vicenza on the final friendly. They have not lost to Udinese in their last five home matches and should be confident of extending the run on Saturday night.

Despite finishing in the bottom half of the Serie A table last season, Udinese were one of the tricky sides in the league as they proved a tough nut to crack for some of the top sides – including the champions, who they drew with in both legs.

They will be aiming for the same this season as they try to push for the top half finish. They have had a busy summer, bringing in the likes of Nehuen Perez, Adam Masina and Sandi Lovric, while managing to hold onto their key players Beto and Gerard Deulofeu.

Andrea Sottil’s side is coming off a 2-1 win over Feralpisalo in the Coppa Italia round 64 last week Friday and will be looking to build on that victory.

Milan vs Udinese head to head

Both sides have met in 60 encounters since 1993 with Milan claiming 29 victories while Udinese have claimed 16 victories and there have been 15 draws.