Udinese vs Roma preview

January 5, 2015
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Udinese vs RomaLed by evergreen Toto Di Natale, Udinese will attempt to put a dent into Roma’s title hopes and kick off the New Year with a win.

Meanwhile, the Giallorossi desperately need to keep up with leaders Juventus and they will have to win these kinds of games if they want to lift the Serie A trophy.

Udinese have done fairly well in the first part of the league campaign, taking 22 points from 16 matches to climb to ninth in the Serie A standings.

The Zebrette would probably be quite happy with another top table finish, although being mere five points behind third-placed Lazio, they are hoping to join the chase for European positions.

Udinese were pretty inconsistent ahead of the winter break, beating Inter away and bringing one point from Marassi, while losing at home to Hellas Verona.

And having failed to win any of their last three fixtures at Friuli, the Zebrette are 4.60 (18/5) to end the barren run against AS Roma.

Important defender Ivan Piris and Maurizio Domizzi return to the side, while midfielder Allan is also back to the starting line-up.

Giampiero Pinzi and Thomas Heurtaux are banned, while Badu, Wague, Muriel, Zapata and Lucas Evangelista are all unavailable.

Probable starting line-up (3-5-1-1): Karnezis – Piris, Danilo, Domizzi – Widmer, Kone, Allan, Guilherme, Pasquale – Fernandes – Di Natale.

AS Roma have already missed several excellent opportunities to close the gap behind Serie A leaders Juventus, but they are certainly not giving up on the title.

It does look as though the Giallorossi have enough quality and character to push the Bianconeri all the way, and it remains to be seen whether the squad will be further reinforced in January.

Roma responded well to the Champions League exit having defeated high-flying Genoa on the road, but they could then only muster a goalless draw against AC Milan at their Stadio Olimpico.

But, with Udinese far from impressive on home soil, there may be value in odds of 1.95 (19/20) offered at William Hill on away win.

Coach Rudi Garcia will have Davide Astori and Miralem Pjanic back to the side, but Francesco Totti is doubtful through a foot injury.

Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa also faces a fitness test, whereas Seydou Keita, Gervinho, Salih Ucan, Leandro Castan and Federico Balzaretti are unavailable.

Probable starting line-up (4-3-3): De Sanctis – Maicon, Astori, Manolas, Holebas – Nainggolan, De Rossi, Pjanic – Florenzi, Ljajic, Iturbe.

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