Udinese vs. Inter Milan Stadio Friuli, Udine, Italy 9 AM EST Sunday February 28, 2009
by Jason Green at Predictem.com
Match Odds: Inter Milan 2.10 / Udinese +3.50 / Draw 3.25
Over/Under: 2.5 goals
Moneyline: Inter Milan Even / Udinese +265 / Draw +225
On Sunday afternoon in Northern Italy Udinese hosts Inter Milan. Sure, Inter Milan finally won a Champions League knockout phase match beating Chelsea at home 2-1 on Wednesday night, but they cannot rest in their domestic league. Inter Milan is in 1st place in Serie A, but they only lead AC Milan by 4 points and AS Roma by 5 points. If they finish the season well they will win the Italy Serie A title for the 5th straight season.
Udinese is in 15th place in Serie A and they are in danger of slipping into the relegation zone. They have been up and down in the last few matches with 2 wins and 3 losses. Head coach Marino was fired in December and then recently brought back where Udinese won 2-1 mid week with him back on the bench. They are 4 points above the relegation zone and they could really use a win in this match to get some breathing room.
Inter has not played great in Serie A as of late, but they have not played bad scoring 4 goals in their last 4 matches with a record of 1 win and 3 draws.
This season Inter Milan has scored 49 goals and giving up 20 and Udinese has given up 30 goals and given up 36.
Udinese does have a solid frontline attack, but the big question is do they have the defense to thwart the great Inter offensive attack?
On the last Serie A match for Inter Milan head coach Jose Mourinho made a handcuffs gesture to the referees, referring to their lack of calls, and he was suspended by 3 matches by league officials. His first match of the suspension will be in this match, so he will not be on the bench.
Udinese Recent Form:
2/24/2010 Udinese 2 Cagliari 1 (Serie A)
2/20/2010 Genoa 3 Udinese 0 (Serie A)
2/12/2010 AC Milan 3 Udinese 2 (Serie A)
2/7/2010 Udinese 3 Napoli 1 (Serie A)
2/4/2010 AS Roma 2 Udinese 0 (Coppa Italia)
Inter Milan Recent Form:
2/24/2010 Inter Milan 2 Chelsea 1 (Champions League)
2/20/2010 Inter Milan 0 Sampdoria 0 (Serie A)
2/14/2010 Napoli 0 Inter Milan 0 (Serie A)
2/10/2010 Parma 1 Inter Milan 1 (Serie A)
2/7/2010 Inter Milan 3 Cagliari 0 (Serie A)
For Udinese D’Agostino, Obodo and Basta are all out due to injuries and Pepe, Domizzi and Handanovic are doubtful for the match.
For Inter Milan Chivu, Santon and Materazzi will not make the trip to Udine with long term in injuries. Inter will be a little shorthanded in this match, as Samuel, Cordoba, Cambiasso and Muntari are suspended along with their head coach.
Inter Milan G Julio Csar crashed his Lamborghini after the last Serie A match and he was questionable for the Champions League match against Chelsea. However, he played and played well and he will play well in this match. I do not think he will keep a clean sheet, as Udinese will attack from the get go, but he will not allow more than 1 goal.
Udinese striker Antonio Di Natale has played great this season scoring 18 goals in 22 league matches and he will be counted on to provide some offense in this match. He will be keyed on by Inter’s defense so do not expect him to score, but his front line mates will.
Diego Miltio played great in the win over Chelsea not only scoring in the 3rd minute, but also running circles around world-class defender John Terry. He has played great this season and he will likely find the back of the net in this match.
Udinese has a mediocre, at best, defense and Inter will take advantage of that by scoring at least 2 goals.
Jason’s Pick: Inter Milan has not played great against Udinese in the last few matches, but they simply have too much talent to lose this match. Even though they have not scored in their last 2 Serie A matches they came away from the Chelsea match with a ton of confidence. Look for Inter to dominate this match, especially in the midfield, as I think they will win by a score of 2-1 or 3-1.