Italy - Serie A
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1 vs 4
Played
September 2, 2012 5:00 PM BST
Stadio Communale Friuli — Udine
Referee:‬ P. Valeri‎
Attendance:‬ 23000‎
 
78′ Andrea Lazzari
Arturo Vidal 14′ (PG)
 
Mirko Vučinić 45+1′
 
Sebastian Giovinco 53′
 
Sebastian Giovinco 71′

Udinese - Juventus: Wounded Zebrette look to bounce back against Bianconeri

Francesco Guidolin is reeling at the moment, having seen his side lose their Serie A opener before once again failing to qualify for the Champions League group stages

By Mark Doyle

More On :  Juventus, Udinese, Udinese vs Juventus
Maicosuel - Udinese
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  PROBABLE LINE-UPS

UDINESE

Brkic
Heurtaux, Danilo, Coda
Basta, Faraoni, Willians, Pereyra, Pasquale
 Maicosuel
Di Natale
JUVENTUS

Buffon
Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini
Lichsteiner, Vidal, Pirlo, Marchisio, Asamoah
 Matri, Vucinic

Udinese will be desperate to kickstart their 2012/13 campaign when they face Italian champions Juventus at the Friuli on Sunday evening.

After slumping to a 2-1 defeat at Fiorentina on the opening day of the new Serie A season last weekend, the Zebrette then saw their hopes of qualifying for the group stages of the Champions League dashed in agonising fashion, Francesco Guidolin's men suffering a heartbreaking penalty shoot-out defeat at the hands of Braga.

Antonio Di Natale will make his first league appearance of the season, after being forced to sit out the trip to Florence, and will be supported by Maicosuel, who is expected to be promoted to the starting lineup in spite of his decisive missed penalty in midweek.

Elsewhere, Giampiero Pinzi has been ruled out by injury, while Thomas Heurtaux, Andrea Coda and Marco Faraoni are all set to be recalled.

As for Juve, Sebastian Giovinco misses out with a minor knock, so Alessandro Matri is likely to start up front alongside Mirko Vucinic, and the former Cagliari man will no doubt be keen to prove his worth with Denmark striker Nicklas Bendtner having arrived in Turin on transfer deadline day.

The Bianconeri are also buoyed by the return of goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and defender Giorgio Chiellini, both of whom were sidelined for last weekend's 2-0 victory over Parma.

Aside from those changes, it's expected to be a case of as you were for the champions, with Kwadwo Asamoah poised to make his first appearance against his former club.

  DID YOU KNOW?
  • Udinese also fell at the final qualifying round of the Champions League last season, losing 3-1 on aggregate to English outfit Arsenal.
  • The Zebrette did make it through in 2005 but they failed to make it out of a group containing Panathinaikos, Werder Bremen and FC Barcelona.
  • Kwadwo Asamoah, who arrived at Juventus Stadium during the summer, made 114 appearances for Udinese in Serie A, scoring eight goals.
  • Chile international Mauricio Isla also swapped Udine for Turin this summer but he misses the game against his former employers through injury.
  • Juventus have now gone 40 games undefeated in Serie A, following last weekend's victory over Parma.
  • Italy and Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon is embarking upon his 12th campaign with the Bianconeri.
  • Alessandro Matri was Juve's top scorer in Serie A last season, despite managing to find the net just 10 times in 31 appearances.

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Field Report
Reader's Predictions
Top 3 Predictions
  • Udinese 0-2 Juventus
    26.43 %
  • Udinese 1-2 Juventus
    12.23 %
  • Udinese 1-3 Juventus
    12.07 %
Head to Head
Italy - Serie A ‎(ITA1)‎ Jan 19, 2013 Juventus 4 - Udinese 0
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Italy - Serie A ‎(ITA1)‎ Sep 2, 2012 Udinese 1 - Juventus 4
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Italy - Serie A ‎(ITA1)‎ Jan 28, 2012 Juventus 2 - Udinese 1
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Italy - Serie A ‎(ITA1)‎ Dec 21, 2011 Udinese 0 - Juventus 0
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Italy - Serie A ‎(ITA1)‎ Jan 30, 2011 Juventus 1 - Udinese 2
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Last Five Matches
Udinese
May 19, 2013FC Internazionale 2 - Udinese 5ITA1
May 12, 2013Udinese 2 - Atalanta 1ITA1
May 8, 2013Palermo 2 - Udinese 3ITA1
May 5, 2013Udinese 3 - Sampdoria 1ITA1
Apr 27, 2013Cagliari 0 - Udinese 1ITA1
Juventus
May 18, 2013Sampdoria 3 - Juventus 2ITA1
May 11, 2013Juventus 1 - Cagliari 1ITA1
May 8, 2013Atalanta 0 - Juventus 1ITA1
May 5, 2013Juventus 1 - Palermo 0ITA1
Apr 28, 2013Torino 0 - Juventus 2ITA1
Odds
Returns: Udinese £810.00 Bet365 Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200
Returns: Draw £360.00 WilliamHill Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25
Returns: Juventus £18.00 PaddyPower Sign up to Paddy Power for £250 in free bets
Team News
Available Squads
1Zeljko BrkicGoalkeeper
5DaniloDefender
8Dušan BastaDefender
11Maurizio DomizziDefender
17Mehdi BenatiaDefender
27Pablo ArmeroDefender
37Roberto PereyraMidfielder
66Giampiero PinziMidfielder
21Andrea LazzariMidfielder
10Antonio Di NataleStriker
-Diego FabbriniStriker
21Daniele PadelliGoalkeeper
4Gabriele AngellaDefender
-Andrea CodaDefender
26Giovanni PasqualeDefender
34Gabriel SilvaDefender
75Thomas HeurtauxDefender
77MaicosuelMidfielder
-WilliansMidfielder
3AllanMidfielder
6Marco FaraoniDefender
-BarretoStriker
24MurielStriker
1Gianluigi BuffonGoalkeeper
3Giorgio ChielliniDefender
15Andrea BarzagliDefender
19Leonardo BonucciDefender
26Stephan LichtsteinerDefender
8Claudio MarchisioMidfielder
21Andrea PirloMidfielder
22Kwadwo AsamoahMidfielder
23Arturo VidalMidfielder
9Mirko VučinićStriker
12Sebastian GiovincoStriker
30Marco StorariGoalkeeper
31Laurentiu BranescuGoalkeeper
4Martín CáceresDefender
11Paolo De CeglieDefender
6Paul PogbaMidfielder
24Emanuele GiaccheriniMidfielder
39Luca MarroneMidfielder
27Fabio QuagliarellaStriker
32Alessandro MatriStriker
Players to Watch
Maicosuel
Maicosuel
Position: Midfielder
Squad Number: 77
Games Goals YC RC
20 2 4 0
It's been a hell of a week for the Brazilian, who marked his Serie A debut with a goal before then missing the crucial spot-kick in Udinese's shoot-out defeat against Braga. Maicosuel only featured as a substitute against the Portuguese but he is expected to be restored to the starting lineup on Sunday evening so it will be fascinating to see how he responds to Guidolin's show of faith.
Alessandro Matri
Alessandro Matri
Position: Striker
Squad Number: 32
Games Goals YC RC
22 8 3 0
While Juventus fans everywhere were left distinctly underwhelmed by the signing of Nicklas Bendtner on Friday, Alessandro Matri must have breathed a sigh of relief. The Dane's arrival obviously means more competition for places but it is not quite the level of competition Matri would have been expecting, with Juve having previously been linked with Robin van Persie and Edinson Cavani. Regardless, the onus is now on Matri to prove to Antonio Conte that he is good enough to lead the Juve attack.
Probable Lineups
Zeljko Brkic 1
Danilo 5
Dušan Basta 8
Maurizio Domizzi 11
Mehdi Benatia 17
Pablo Armero 27
Roberto Pereyra 37
Giampiero Pinzi 66
Andrea Lazzari 21
Antonio Di Natale 10
Diego Fabbrini 0
Gianluigi Buffon 1
Giorgio Chiellini 3
Andrea Barzagli 15
Leonardo Bonucci 19
Stephan Lichtsteiner 26
Claudio Marchisio 8
Andrea Pirlo 21
Kwadwo Asamoah 22
Arturo Vidal 23
Mirko Vučinić 9
Sebastian Giovinco 12
Prediction
It's impossible not to feel anything but sympathy for miracle worker Guidolin and his fine Zebrette side in light of their Champions League heartbreak but the reality is that they only have themselves to blame after a substandard performance against Braga. Juventus are also a ruthless outfit who have mastered the art of winning without playing well, as they underlined against Parma last weekend, so expect the champions to edge a predictably tight affair.
Editor's Prediction
Udinese 0
Juventus 1
Results
ALL MATCHES >>
 
Top Scorers
Player   Goals Penalties
Edinson Cavani Edinson Cavani
Striker
Napoli 		29 7
Antonio Di Natale Antonio Di Natale
Striker
Udinese 		23 4
Pablo Daniel Osvaldo Pablo Daniel Osvaldo
Striker
Roma 		16 2
Stephan El Shaarawy Stephan El Shaarawy
Midfielder
Milan 		16 0
Germán Denis Germán Denis
Striker
Atalanta 		15 5