Juventus vs Udinese prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2023-01-06 17:00.
Arkadiusz Milik’s stoppage-time strike was enough to secure Juventus a hard-fought 1-0 win against relegation-threatened Cremonese on Wednesday, keeping the Old Lady hot on the heels of second-placed AC Milan. That victory served as Juve’s seventh-straight league win and they now seek to extend that to eight for the first time since December 2018, as they ramp up preparations for a potential top-of-the-table clash against Napoli on the next matchday.
Juventus ought not look beyond Udinese here though after coach Massimiliano Allegri insisted there was “room for improvement” after the narrow win at Cremonese, but with key players set to return from injuries there appears room for cautious optimism. Even without several big-hitters, Juventus boast the league’s meanest defence with just seven conceded, which perfectly aligns with an attack that has delivered 2+ goals in each of their last six home league games which seemingly makes Udinese’s task here a thankless one.
That certainly won’t be good news for an Udinese side who haven’t defeated Juve in an away league game since August 2015, losing the last six in a row. Udinese’s recent form is equally dire too, with an eight-game winless league run (D6, L2) raising doubts over their ability to finish in the European qualification places. That run was bookended by a 1-1 draw against Empoli on Wednesday, though boss Andrea Sottil claimed Udinese “deserved the win.”
Addressing poor starts may hold the key to Udinese finally ending that winless run, with Sottil’s side conceding the match opener in nine of their last 11 SA games, but at least they have showcased their strong jaw mentality as they boast the most points after falling behind at any stage in this league campaign (16). Adding another three points to that total here would need them to defy recent H2H form though, having not won an away league match against Juventus since January 2011 after going behind.
Players to watch: Midweek hero Milik has been Juve’s last goal scorer with each of his last five SA goals. Preferring to strike early, Beto has been Udinese’s first scorer in his last five SA scoring matches, four of which came in wins.
Hot stat: Juventus and Udinese have both scored seven of their 25 respective SA goals beyond the 80th minute this season.