Udinese vs Juventus Serie A Betting Odds and Preview

Juventus travel to Stadio Friuli to Face Udinese on Thursday evening knowing that a win will put them on the brink of a ninth consecutive Serie A title. Juve has a record of 25-5-4 with a total of 80 points scored on the season and they are six points ahead of their closest rivals.

On the other hand, the home team heads to this contest hoping to pull off the upset to ensure their appearance in the Serie A next season. Udinese is in 16th place in the table with a record of 9-9-16 and they are seven points above the relegation zone.

Udinese

Udinese is trying to ensure that they don’t join the relegation battle. This side displayed a good effort against in-form teams Sampdoria, Lazio, and Napoli but they ended that sequence with just one extra point to their name. With a seven-point cushion and a more favorable schedule ahead, Luca Gotti is confident that his side will avoid trouble in the coming weeks.

In their most recent match, Udinese dropped a 1-2 contest against Napoli. Udinese got on board first with Rodrigo De Paul scoring in the 22nd minute. However, Napoli tied the score in the 31st via Arkadiusz Milik and the game looked like it was headed to a draw. But then Matteo Politano scored in stoppage time as Napoli stole all three points from the visiting team.

Kevin Lasagna leads Udinese with a total of 10 goals scored this season. Rodrigo De Paul has found the back of the net seven times while Stefano Okaka has netted six times. Seko Fofana leads the team with a total of seven assists while also scoring two goals. De Paul has five assists and Jens Stryger Larsen has two assists and one goal this season.

Udinese ranks 10th in the Serie A in defense with a total of 48 goals allowed this season. They are tied for 18th overall with only 32 goals scored this year. Udinese is also tied for 18th place in passing with a total of 21 assists on the year. Their goal difference of -16 is 15th in the Serie A this season.

Juventus

After a run of three matches without success, Juventus were under some kind of pressure when they took on one of their title rivals on Monday. However, superstar Cristiano Ronaldo produced a double and Juve walked away with a 2-1 win over Lazio. With four matches left to play, Maurizio Sarri’s side now has a six-point advantage over Atalanta and an 8-point edge over third-place Inter.

That means their rivals need to sweep all their remaining matches if they are to catch-up with the leaders. If not, Juve will bag its ninth consecutive Serie A title and the first one for Sarri. Roma still has a date in Turin on the final day of action but Sarri hopes that he will have claimed his first-ever Italian Serie A title before that game, adding to his Europa League victory with Chelsea last season.

Cristiano Ronaldo leads the Juventus scoring parade with a total of 30 goals scored in as many games played this season. Paulo Dybala has netted 11 times while Gonzalo Higuain has found the back of the net seven times this term. Rodrigo Betancur leads the team with seven assists while Juan Cuadrado has five assists as well. Dybala also has contributed a total of six assists for the defending champions.

Juventus is tied for 1st in defense this season with only a total of 36 goals conceded. They are 3rd in scoring with a total of 72 goals scored on the year. Juve is also third in the Serie A with a total of 45 assists on the season and their goal difference of 36 is third overall in the Italian top flight.

Who Wins?

Udinese has a home record of 5 wins, 6 draws, and six losses. They have scored a total of 15 goals and conceded 20 at home. In their last three home games, they drew with Lazio 0-0, lost to Sampdoria 1-3, and drew with Genoa 2-2. Juventus meanwhile has an away record of 10 wins, 3 draws, and 4 losses. They have scored a total of 29 points away from home and have conceded a total of 22 goals in their travels. Juve drew with Sassuolo, lost to AC Milan, and defeated Genoa in their last three away assignments.

The Old Lady has a good record against Udinese. They beat Udinese 4-0 in the Copa Italia and also won 3-1 when these sides met last December. Juventus is unbeaten in its last nine matches against Udinese with eight wins. In their last six meetings, Juventus has scored a total of 21 goals while conceding only four against Udinese.

Juventus is playing this game on a short turnaround time but I don’t expect Sarri to make too many changes to his line-up. Blaise Matsudi could start for the champs on Thursday with Aaron Ramsey possibly heading to the bench despite playing in only 57 minutes in their last outing. Daniele Rugani is also expected to feature in the starting XI since Leonardo Bonucci will be serving a ban.

Likewise, Udinese shouldn’t tinker with their lineup especially after a good showing against Napoli where they lost only in the 94th minute. Ken Sema may start in the final third with Wallace suffering a shoulder injury. Lukasz Teodorczyk and Rolando Mandragora won’t be available here due to injury.

Juventus edged out Lazio earlier this week and with the team looking to clinch a ninth consecutive title, I think that they are in great shape to put on a great display against a Udinese team that hasn’t been able to get the breaks. I like Sarri’s boys to pick up the win here.

Prediction: Juventus -175

Alternate Bet

The over is 11-5-2 in Juventus’ away matches this season and these teams have combined to score a total of 31 goals in their last 10 meetings. These teams have combined to score at least four goals in their two head to head matches in 2019. I like these teams to figure in another high scoring match on Thursday.

Prediction: Over 2.5 -138.

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