Hellas Verona vs Udinese

May 9, 2014
By: Nemanja Lazarevic

Following the unlucky draw at Stadio Olimpico, Hellas Verona hope to revive their Europa League hopes by defeating indifferent Udinese at their Stadio Marc’Antonio Bentegodi. The Zebrette ended a poor run by hammering bottom-placed Livorno, but they are likely to face a much tougher task against the Gialloblu.

Verona continue to impress

Despite spending the big chunk of the season in the Serie A top 6, Hellas Verona were never seen as serious contenders for Europa League positions and many believe they would crumble at the first sign of trouble. However, Andrea Mandorlini’s charges did well to overcome a difficult run of results at the start of 2014 and are now back in the race for European qualification. The Gialloblu have been thoroughly impressive of late, winning four of five league matches, while only losing 5-3 to Fiorentina in a highly entertaining encounter. Verona then produced a very good performance to match Lazio at their Stadio Olimpico, but were denied what would have been a valuable victory by conceding in the dying moments of the match. And with the team still mere two points behind Europa League positions, there are no doubts the Gialloblu will give their best to continue the string of excellent performances against Udinese, even if star player Juan Manuel Iturbe will be missing through suspension.

Juan Manuel Iturbe and Michelangelo Albertazzi are banned, whereas Massimo Donati is injured and Martinho is doubtful.

A season to forget

After working wonders with many Udinese sides over the years, Francesco Guidolin has somewhat failed to meet the expectations this season, but at least the Zebrette were never in danger of getting relegated. And while star player Antonio Di Natale enjoyed another injury-free season, the Friulani often had at least several players on the sidelines and these annoying niggles seem to have prevented the team from showing all they’ve got. Udinese entered the final stretch of the league campaign in poor spirits, with just one point won in games against Fiorentina, Juventus, Napoli and Torino proving the Zebrette lack the quality to match Italy’s top sides. The 5-3 triumph over rock bottom Livorno should act as a confidence boost, but I still doubt Udinese will be able to match in-form Hellas Verona at their Bentegodi. Taking also into account the Friulani are winless in last seven away fixtures (D2 L5), chances are the poor run on the travels is going to continue.

Luis Muriel, Dusan Basta and Maicosuel are all unavailable, but Emmanuel Agyemang-Bady should be fit to play.

Verdict

Hellas Verona have been producing stellar performances over the last few weeks and seeing as how they continue to score goals for fun, the Gialloblu look a good bet to defeat out-of-sorts Udinese. The Zebrette are going through a rough patch at the moment, while their poor away record is unlikely to help either.

Top pick: Home win   2.20 (6/5) @ bet365

Alternative pick 1: Both teams to score   1.53 (8/15) @ Ladbrokes

Alternative pick 2: Home win + both teams to score   3.80 (14/5) @ Coral

We Highly Recommend These Places
Share your Opinion!