Udinese vs Monza prediction: ITALY: Serie A betting tips on match 2023-04-07 10:30.
Udinese’s dream of securing European football for the first time in nearly a decade is left hanging by a thread after taking a 3-0 hammering off Bologna last time out. That result left the White and Blacks ten points adrift of the top six with a little over a quarter of the campaign still remaining, but whether they’re to make Europe or not, defender Jaka Bijol says his teammates are desperate “to end the season on a high” by continuing to push up the table.
To achieve that, Andrea Sottil’s side must surely improve their desperately poor home form, where they have won just one of their last nine league outings (D6, L2), though those games haven’t been short of entertainment given each match saw both teams score. Encouragingly, that sole victory did at least come in their most recent game at Stadio Friuli, when they stunned AC Milan with a 3-1 success, but they come into this game handicapped by the fact Sottil won’t be in the dugout for the visit of Monza as he serves a touchline ban.
Raffaele Palladino’s Monza side also come into this game on the back of a defeat, making the journey east after losing 2-0 at home to Lazio last Sunday. The boss wasn’t too unhappy with how the White and Reds played, insisting the performance and result “will help us grow a lot in the future,” despite it extending a disappointing run of form to one win in their last six outings (D2, L3).
Even so, Monza are all but mathematically safe from relegation, with 15 points separating them from the bottom three. Staying up will be a huge achievement in their debut season in Serie A, but Monza fans may not carry too much confidence of edging even closer to mathematical safety in this game given their side have only beaten Udinese once in eight previous away league meetings (D2, L5).
Players to watch: Udinese’s top scorer, Beto has only lost two of the 16 matches in which he has netted since joining the club in 2021 (W7, D7). He may be trying to outscore Monza’s Andrea Petagna, who has managed just two goals and three wins in his 11 previous league H2Hs against the White and Blacks (D3, L5), with both those goals arriving after half-time.
Hot streak: Monza have not won any of the 16 league games in which they have conceded first this season (D6, L10).