|
|
Played
November 28, 2010 2:00 PM GMT
Stadio Communale Friuli — Udine
Referee: A. Romeo
Attendance: 15087
November 28, 2010 2:00 PM GMT
Stadio Communale Friuli — Udine
Referee: A. Romeo
Attendance: 15087
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Udinese | 2.50 | 1.01 | 0.00 | 2.38 | 2.50 |
| Draw | 3.25 | 19.00 | 0.00 | 3.10 | 3.20 |
| Napoli | 2.80 | 61.00 | 0.00 | 3.10 | 2.90 |
Serie A Preview: Udinese - Napoli
It's a clash between two of the in-form sides in the league..
By Subhankar Mondal
Going From Strength To Strength
Udinese are an inspired side this campaign as far from struggling at the lower end in Serie A, the Bianconeri are actually floating in mid-table with relative comfort. Last weekend the Udine-based side may have lost 2-0 to Roma in Rome but that mustn't darken what has been a very good and encouraging season so far.
Prior to last weekend's defeat at the Stadio Olimpico Udinese had gone unbeaten in nine competitive matches and after Week 13 are placed in 11th place with 17 points, six better off than third-from-bottom Brescia and just three behind Italian and European champions Inter, who are sixth.
In midweek Udinese progressed to the fifth round of the Coppa Italia with a 2-1 extra-time victory over Lecce and returned to winning ways after last weekend's defeat. Francesco Guidolin's side have an encouraging record in the league at home as well as they have won three of the six fixtures at the Stadio Friuli.
Maintaining Top Four Position
A combination of several factors has stationed Napoli right in the middle of realising their dreams of finishing in the top four and returning to Champions League football, and the Neapolitans will be looking forward to carrying on the momentum this week too.
Last weekend Napoli bounced back from their comprehensive 2-0 defeat to Lazio in style as they destroyed Bologna 4-1 at San Paolo. Marek Hamsik, who has looked good on intermittent times this campaign but has once again shown bouts of inconsistency, was on target twice to help the Partenopei remain third in the league standings on 24 points, two behind second-placed Lazio and five that of leaders Milan.
The former Italian champions have every reason to believe that they can pull off a victory in Udine on Sunday as they have a remarkable away record, having won four games on the road and have conceded just six times. The defeat to Lazio in Roma was Walter Mazzarri's side first loss away from home, which exhibits just how good they have been in the league.
Udinese are an inspired side this campaign as far from struggling at the lower end in Serie A, the Bianconeri are actually floating in mid-table with relative comfort. Last weekend the Udine-based side may have lost 2-0 to Roma in Rome but that mustn't darken what has been a very good and encouraging season so far.
Prior to last weekend's defeat at the Stadio Olimpico Udinese had gone unbeaten in nine competitive matches and after Week 13 are placed in 11th place with 17 points, six better off than third-from-bottom Brescia and just three behind Italian and European champions Inter, who are sixth.
In midweek Udinese progressed to the fifth round of the Coppa Italia with a 2-1 extra-time victory over Lecce and returned to winning ways after last weekend's defeat. Francesco Guidolin's side have an encouraging record in the league at home as well as they have won three of the six fixtures at the Stadio Friuli.
Maintaining Top Four Position
A combination of several factors has stationed Napoli right in the middle of realising their dreams of finishing in the top four and returning to Champions League football, and the Neapolitans will be looking forward to carrying on the momentum this week too.
Last weekend Napoli bounced back from their comprehensive 2-0 defeat to Lazio in style as they destroyed Bologna 4-1 at San Paolo. Marek Hamsik, who has looked good on intermittent times this campaign but has once again shown bouts of inconsistency, was on target twice to help the Partenopei remain third in the league standings on 24 points, two behind second-placed Lazio and five that of leaders Milan.
The former Italian champions have every reason to believe that they can pull off a victory in Udine on Sunday as they have a remarkable away record, having won four games on the road and have conceded just six times. The defeat to Lazio in Roma was Walter Mazzarri's side first loss away from home, which exhibits just how good they have been in the league.
TEAM NEWS
Udinese
Zapata, Floro Flores, Basta and Ferronetti are out injured for the Bianconeri. Di Natale and Denis will be the two strikers upfront for Udinese.
Napoli
Cannavaro, Aronica, Lucarelli, Blasi, Dumitru, Sosa and Gianello are unavailable for the trip to Udine as they are injured. Hamsik and Cavani will play just behind lone-striker Lavezzi in a 3-4-2-1 formation.
Goal.com is proud to be a premier partner of Digg.com and as such is pleased to offer exclusive invitations to our users to become a participant in the Alpha launch of the new Digg.com. Click here for your access code for the alpha site - act now as invitations are limited!
| Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 |
|
| Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200 |
|
| Sign up to Paddy Power for £250 in free bets |
|
| Sign up today with Coral and get a £50 FREE bet - no strings attached! |
|
| Sign up today with BetVictor and get a £25 FREE BET! |
|
Field Report
Reader's Predictions
Top 3 Predictions
-
Udinese 1-2 SSC Napoli
- 24.83 %
-
Udinese 1-1 SSC Napoli
- 15.17 %
-
Udinese 2-1 SSC Napoli
- 11.72 %
| Italy - Serie A (ITA1) | Feb 25, 2013 | Udinese 0 - SSC Napoli 0 |
|
| Italy - Serie A (ITA1) | Oct 7, 2012 | SSC Napoli 2 - Udinese 1 |
|
| Italy - Serie A (ITA1) | Mar 18, 2012 | Udinese 2 - SSC Napoli 2 |
|
| Italy - Serie A (ITA1) | Oct 26, 2011 | SSC Napoli 2 - Udinese 0 |
|
| Italy - Serie A (ITA1) | Apr 17, 2011 | SSC Napoli 1 - Udinese 2 |
|
Udinese
  |
||
| May 19, 2013 | FC Internazionale 2 - Udinese 5 | ITA1 |
| May 12, 2013 | Udinese 2 - Atalanta 1 | ITA1 |
| May 8, 2013 | Palermo 2 - Udinese 3 | ITA1 |
| May 5, 2013 | Udinese 3 - Sampdoria 1 | ITA1 |
| Apr 27, 2013 | Cagliari 0 - Udinese 1 | ITA1 |
SSC Napoli
 |
||
| May 19, 2013 | Roma 2 - SSC Napoli 1 | ITA1 |
| May 12, 2013 | SSC Napoli 2 - Siena 1 | ITA1 |
| May 8, 2013 | Bologna 0 - SSC Napoli 3 | ITA1 |
| May 5, 2013 | SSC Napoli 3 - FC Internazionale 1 | ITA1 |
| Apr 27, 2013 | Pescara 0 - SSC Napoli 3 | ITA1 |
| Returns: | Udinese £25.00 |
|
Sign up today with Coral and get a £50 FREE bet - no strings attached! | |
| Returns: | Draw £190.00 |
|
Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 | |
| Returns: | Napoli £610.00 |
|
Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 |
| 1 | Samir Handanoviç | Goalkeeper |
| 17 | Mehdi Benatia | Defender |
| 17 | Cristian Zapata | Defender |
| 11 | Maurizio Domizzi | Defender |
| 33 | Mauricio Isla | Defender |
| 88 | Gökhan Inler | Midfielder |
| 66 | Giampiero Pinzi | Midfielder |
| 22 | Kwadwo Asamoah | Midfielder |
| 27 | Pablo Armero | Defender |
| 10 | Antonio Di Natale | Striker |
| 9 | Alexis Sánchez | Striker |
| 22 | Emanuele Belardi | Goalkeeper |
| 4 | Gabriele Angella | Defender |
| 11 | Juan Guillermo Cuadrado | Midfielder |
| 7 | Badu | Midfielder |
| 26 | Giovanni Pasquale | Defender |
| - | Bernardo Corradi | Striker |
| 19 | Germán Denis | Striker |
| - | Andrea Coda | Defender |
| 83 | Antonio Floro Flores | Striker |
| 1 | Morgan De Sanctis | Goalkeeper |
| 13 | Fabiano Santacroce | Defender |
| 28 | Paolo Cannavaro | Defender |
| 14 | Hugo Armando Campagnaro | Defender |
| 11 | Christian Maggio | Midfielder |
| 5 | Walter Gargano | Midfielder |
| - | Michele Pazienza | Midfielder |
| 38 | Andrea Dossena | Defender |
| 17 | Marek Hamsik | Midfielder |
| 7 | Edinson Cavani | Striker |
| 21 | Ezequiel Lavezzi | Striker |
| - | Gennaro Iezzo | Goalkeeper |
| 2 | Gianluca Grava | Defender |
| 18 | Juan Camilo Zúñiga | Defender |
| 11 | José Sosa | Midfielder |
| 19 | Hassan Yebda | Midfielder |
| - | Luigi Vitale | Midfielder |
| 36 | Raffaele Maiello | Midfielder |
| - | Nicolao Dumitru | Striker |
| - | Cribari | Defender |
| Antonio Di Natale | |
| Position: | Striker |
| Squad Number: | 10 |
| Games | Goals | YC | RC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | 23 | 4 | 0 |
Di Natale will be Udinese's main weapon and he will look forward to putting the Napoli defence into a fix. The Italy international remains a very good goalscorer in Italian football and against a depleted Neapolitan backline, the veteran's runs and shooting abilities will come into good use.
| Marek Hamsik | |
| Position: | Midfielder |
| Squad Number: | 17 |
| Games | Goals | YC | RC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 38 | 11 | 2 | 0 |
Hamsik scored twice against Bologna at the weekend and the Slovakia international midfielder will be aiming to do something similar against Udinese. Hamsik is hugely talented but he is also inconsistent. However, he has looked good on several occasions and he will be crucial in creating chances for Lavezzi upfront.
1 
17 
17 
11 
33 
88 
66 
22 
27 
10 
9 
1 
13 
28 
14 
11 
5 
0 
38 
17 
7 
21 Udinese do have the form to pull off an upset against Napoli in Udine but the visitors have the better team. A draw could just be the final outcome.
Results
Times In BST
Live
Final
scheduled
Suspended
Cancelled
Postponed
Match News
Top Scorers
| Player | Goals | Penalties | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Edinson Cavani Striker Napoli |
29 | 7 |
|
Antonio Di Natale Striker Udinese |
23 | 4 |
|
Pablo Daniel Osvaldo Striker Roma |
16 | 2 |
|
Stephan El Shaarawy Midfielder Milan |
16 | 0 |
|
Germán Denis Striker Atalanta |
15 | 5 |
