Sports Mole previews Saturday’s Serie A clash between Udinese and Lecce, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Separated by five places in the Serie A table, Udinese welcome Lecce to Bluenergy Stadium in Saturday’s gameweek eight action.
Unbeaten in this fixture since April 2023, the Udine hosts aim to secure a fourth consecutive victory over Lupi to potentially rise into the division’s top half.
Match preview
Despite sitting 11th in the Italian top flight, Kosta Runjaic believes his team could have performed better had their form at the Friuli been stronger.
The Little Zebras have won two matches from their opening seven, but those victories have come away from home, where the Black and Whites have accumulated more points than all but Roma (nine).
With seven points gained on their travels, it is therefore disappointing that Udinese have amassed nine points overall, with their results outside of Udine accounting for 77.8% of their total entering the eighth gameweek.
While a victory over a team they have not lost to in four top-flight meetings since April 2023 could propel them into the top 10, maximum points against the 16th-placed visitors are far from guaranteed.
That logic is doubly reinforced by Udinese’s failure to beat 13th-placed Cagliari and 17th-placed Hellas Verona in previous home matches this season, a statistic that should give Lecce some hope.
Eusebio Di Francesco‘s team sit 16th after seven games, earning six points out of a possible 21 before this weekend’s fixtures.
Unbeaten in three league matches, Lupi have accumulated five points in the last three rounds, comprising 71.4% of their total points.
Their current streak includes a 1-0 victory over Parma and a scoreless draw with Sassuolo last week, bringing the Apulia-based club to three clean sheets this season—more than any other club except AC Milan and Roma.
To extend their run to four league matches without defeat, Lecce must avoid the fate of their previous three encounters with Udinese, all of which ended in defeats to the Little Zebras.
All three losses followed a 1-1 draw in Udine in October 2023, which was the last time this weekend’s visitors scored against the Friulani; Udinese have since defeated Lecce 2-0, 1-0 and 1-0 in their three previous meetings.
Having gained four points from nine away games, the Wolves will aim to secure another positive result in their fourth away fixture of the season.
Udinese Serie A form:
Udinese form (all competitions):
Lecce Serie A form:
Lecce form (all competitions):
Team News
Having suffered no apparent injuries last week, Udinese’s only likely absentees are Thomas Kristensen and Alessandro Nunziante.
Only Keinan Davis has accumulated more than one goal involvement for the Friulani, and the forward should start up front alongside Nicolo Zaniolo.
Zaniolo’s goal in gameweek seven against Cremonese was his first in Serie A since December 2024, and the attacker aims to score in back-to-back rounds this weekend.
Lecce, however, have more injury concerns than their hosts, with Matias Perez Sepulveda, Gaby Jean, Riccardo Sottil, Lameck Banda and Francesco Camarda absent.
The Apulians have scored five goals from different scorers: Tiago Gabriel, Sottil, Konan N’Dri, Lassana Coulibaly and Camarda, demonstrating that they do not rely on a single player for decisive actions.
Udinese possible starting lineup:
Okoye; Goglichidze, Kabasele, Solet; Zanoli, Piotrowski, Karlstrom, Atta, Kamara; Zaniolo, Davis
Lecce possible starting lineup:
Falcone; Veiga, Gaspar, Gabriel, Gallo; Coulibaly, Ramadani, Berisha; Pierotti, Stulic, Morente
We say: Udinese 1-1 Lecce
While Udinese have the advantage of three consecutive wins over Lecce and are on a four-match unbeaten streak in this fixture, the Little Zebras’ results in Udine have been undeniably disappointing.
As a result, the points could be shared at Stadio Friuli on Saturday, with both teams likely to settle for a low-scoring draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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