Two sides heading in opposite directions will do battle on Sunday afternoon when AC Milan host Udinese at the Stadio San Siro.
The Rossoneri currently sit in sixth place while the Bianconeri occupy the 14th position. Thirteen points separate the two sides.
A confident Milan have found themselves shooting up the Serie A table with three victories over their last four matches, scoring nine. Last weekend’s impressive 3-0 dismantling of city rivals Inter was followed up with a 2-0 victory against Palermo in midweek. Coach Sinisa Mihajlovic can now cool off after being in the hot seat for much of the season.
A victory on Sunday coupled with a Roma defeat would mean that Milan has finally found themselves back in a position for European competition, with an eye on Fiorentina or Inter for a coveted Champions League spot.
Udinese can only dream of Milan’s form and are currently stuck in a five-match winless drought. Coach Stefano Colantuono has found solace in the fact that his squad have managed draws in their past two matches, a 0-0 stalemate with Lazio followed by a 1-1 draw away to Empoli. Goals have been hard to come by of late, the Zebrette unable to score more than once amidst this current dip in form. Despite sitting in 14th the club will be anxiously looking over their shoulders, as a mere two points separate them from 17th place Sampdoria staring down at the relegation zone beneath them.
As one might expect, Il Diavolo have a significant advantage in the head-to-head over their opponents since the 1993-1994 season, winning on 25 occasions to Udinese’s 13, with 9 further draws in 47 matches played. This season’s wild reverse fixture saw Milan come out 3-2 victors with Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu and Duvan Zapata nearly cancelling out the openers from Mario Balotelli, Giacomo Bonaventura and Cristian Zapata, before Udinese saw themselves reduced to ten men near the conclusion of the match.
Neither coach is faced with any suspensions this weekend although injuries will play their part. Milan are without Philippe Mexes, Diego Lopez, Rodrigo Ely and Luiz Adriano while Udinese must make do without Alexander Merkel, Giovanni Pasquale and Maurizio Domizzi.
Carlos Bacca is Milan’s leading scorer with 12 goals while Cyril Thereau is Udinese’s top marksman with seven.
Form Guide: AC Milan (D-W-D-W-W) Udinese (L-L-L-D-D)
Expected Starting XIs:
AC Milan: Donnarumma; Abate, Zapata, Romagnoli, Antonelli; Honda, Montolivo, Kucka, Bonaventura; Bacca, Niang
Udinese: Karnezis; Wague, Danilo, Piris; Edenilson, Badu, Lodi, Hallfredsson, Adnan; Perica, Thereau
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com