Inter Milan vs Udinese: Preview and Prediction

 

An inconsistent Inter Milan host Udinese at San Siro in the match-day 35 of the Italian Serie A on Saturday evening.

Inter Milan are coming on the back of a 1-0 away loss to Genoa and their slimmest chances of making into the top three are at the crossroads. They are currently 4th in the league table, 8 points above 6th placed AC Milan, which means a finish of at-least a fifth place is possible and thereby guarantee Europa League football next season.

Udinese are 13th in the Serie A table and they are on showing some good form in recent outings. They are at a safe distance from the relegation zone and a top half finish is not a realistic possibility. They have absolutely no pressure to get a result and look to play to please the crowd.

Form Guide

• Inter’s last five Serie A matches have witnessed 2 wins, 2 defeats and a draw.
• Their last three matches have seen under 2.5 goals and they scored at-least a goal in 6 of their last 7 games.
• Inter Milan’s home form is good as they are won 5 of their last 6 matches and lost once.
• Milan have scored 2 or more goals in 4 of their last 5 home games in Serie A.
• The last 5 Serie A matches of Udinese produced 2 wins, 2 draws and a defeat.
• Udinese have scored only one goal in their last three league matches.
• Udinese are without a win in 8 away matches, 5 defeats and 3 draws.

Inter Milan: Team News

Head coach Roberto Mancini has no major injury concerns in the build up to this match. He is likely to retain the same line-up that used against Genoa, despite falling to a 1-0 defeat.

Inter Milan: Predicted Line-up (4-2-3-1)

Handanovic
Telles, Murillo, Miranda, D’Ambrosio,
Medel, Melo,
Perisic, Palacio, Brozovic,
Icardi.

Udinese: Team News

Antonio Di Natale is the only player out with injury for the trip to Milan.

Felipe returns from suspension and is un-likely to start here as Luigi De Canio may prefer to stick with the same three man defense that put a strong showing against Fiorentina in midweek.

Ivan Badu is fit and is a likely starter on Saturday night.

Udinese: Predicted Line-up (3-5-2)

Kamezis,
Wague, Danilo, Heurtaux
Widmer, Badu, Kuzmanovic, Fernandes, Adnan,
Zapata, Thereau.

Inter Milan vs Udinese: Head-to-Head

Inter Milan haven’t won in their last four home matches against Udinese. The visitors have won three and drawn one during the period.

The reverse fixture of this season played at Stadio Friuli on December 2015, ended in a 4-0 in win for Inter Milan.

Inter have won their last two matches played against Udinese, both played away at Stadio Friuli.

Inter Milan vs Udinese: Prediction

Udinese are extremely poor on the road, as they have not one an away match in Serie A this calender year 2016. But they have a very strong record at San Siro after winning in three and remaining unbeaten in their last four visits.

Inter Milan are desperate for three points here which will confirm their a place in the Europa League for next season. The team have enough quality to see this through, but I doubt if they have the attitude to produce this on the pitch.

I consider this as a highly unpredictable and risky match to predict. But on recent form Inter must win this, but on head-to-head Udinese could mount an upset.

I believe a safer bet is to go for goals, over 2.5 and if you like taking a risk, tip for Udinese as Inter won’t be having an easy night on Saturday.