Serie A: Viola Backlash is Heading Udinese’s Way

Fiorentina vs Udinese

Top flight Italian football has thrown up some great fixtures again this weekend and Serie A: Fiorentina vs Udinese is right up there with the best.

La Viola have put in some superb performances in the first half of the campaign and, under the guidance of Raffaele Palladino they are sitting in fourth place in the Serie A table, six points behind leaders Atalanta and with a game in hand. But last week Fiorentina’s great run came to an abrupt halt as they lost 1-0 to Europe chasing Bologna. This is the last game before Italian football stops for the Christmas break and the passionate home fans at the Stadio Artemio Franchi will be hoping for some festive cheer on Monday.  

The Fiorentina vs Udinese betting odds say the men and women of Florence should go home happy as Kosta Runjaic’s side have struggled for consistency in recent weeks, losing 3-1 at home to Napoli last week and bombing out of the Coppa Italia in midweek. But Udinese are currently in ninth place and they will be no pushover.  

 

Talking Points

Fiorentina’s strength at the business end

La Viola’ success has been built on a whole team effort and with particular success and each end of the pitch, where matches are won and lost. The signing of former Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea looks to have been a master stroke, as Fiorentina have the joint best defence in Serie A, conceding just 11 goals and level with early paces setters Napoli.   

Captained last week by 25 year old centre back Luca Ranieri La Viola has a well marshalled rearguard, and with club captain Christian Biraghi at full back it has plenty of experience. But De Gea’s authority in the penalty area, superb positioning and shot stopping has lifted the defensive unit to higher levels. The La Roja keeper has bags of experience as a Premier League Golden Glove winner and he exudes confidence which has a knock on effect on the men in front.

At the other end of the pitch Fiorentina have been equally successful, scoring 28 goals, the fourth highest in the division. 24 year old striker Moise Kean has nine goals from 14 appearances and this looks like turning out to be his best season yet after falling short of his potential at Juventus, where he scored just once in 24 appearances. He has struck up a good relationship with Icelandic forward Albert Gudmundsson and Kean is full of confidence, which could spell bad news for Udinese.      

In other Fiorentina vs Udinese news 22 year old midfielder Edoardo Bove is on the mend and has sent out a message to the fans after he suffered a cardiac arrest which caused La Viola’s game with Inter Milan to be called off. Bove was taken to Florence’s Careggi University hospital where he’s well on the road to recovery; great news for football fans everywhere but particularly at Fiorentina.

 

Brutal run for Udinese

Things have gone awry for Udinese in recent weeks but when you look at their fixture list you can have some sympathy. I Bianconeri lost 2-1 to leaders Atalanta and then after another loss to Empoli they picked up a 2-1 victory over Monza as 6ft 7in striker Lorenzo Lucca got on the score-sheet. The Torino academy graduate has scored five this season and is linking well with captain Florian Thauvin.

But after the win over Monza Udinese’s recent clash with early pace-setters Napoli sent them crashing back to earth and shone a light on their defensive issues; they have conceded 25 goals, the highest of any club outside the bottom seven. Runjaic’s men conceded another two in midweek in a Coppa Italia exit to league favourites Inter Milan.

So with losses to La Dea, Napoli and Inter fresh in the memory, a trip to Florence to face the fourth top four side almost seems cruel.

 

History

Fiorentina have won 30 to 17 of their encounters with Udinese, but last term this fixture ended in a 2-2 draw while La Viola won 2-0 in Udinese.

In terms of recent form the hosts have won four and lost two of the last six while Udinese have won one, drawn one and lost four; and Fiorentina have been superb at home, with five wins and two draws.   

 

Betting Tip

Fiorentina are hot favourites, at SBOTOP odds of 1.52 to win this match, with the draw at 3.62 and a Udinese win at 5.03. I’m drawn to a comfortable home victory as the hosts will be keen to get back to winning ways, and home is certainly where La Viola’s heart is.

   

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