Napoli – Udinese Prediction & Picks (18.04.2018)

Napoli and Udinese meet at Stadio San Paolo, in a match for the 33rd round of Serie A. Napoli won by (0-1) the last time they met in this edition of the league, on 26-11- 2017 The history of direct confrontations played in this stadium is favorable to the home team, which in the last 6 matches won 4 and tied 2. Indeed, the last time these two teams played a game in this stadium, on 19-12- 2017, for Coppa Italia, Napoli won by (1-0). L. Insigne (71 ‘) scored the only goal of the game.

Napoli:

The home team is currently in the 2 nd position, with 78 points won, after 24 wins, 6 draws and 2 losses. In the penultimate match, they won in a home match against Chievo, by (2-1). In the last match, they tied in an away match against Milan by (0-0). For the championship, Napoli won 22 points out of 30 possible, after 7 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses in the last 10 home matches. Their attack has scored regularly, since they have scored goals in 8 of the last 10 matches for this competition. In 32 matches played in this competition, he got the comeback in 8 of the 10 games in which he suffered the first goal. In the last 16 home matches for this competition there is 1 period that stands out: they have conceded 6 of their 13 goals between minutes (0′-15 ‘).

Napoli come to this game with a scoreless draw against AC Milan, thus being further from the top of the leaderboard. In this match at home coach Maurizio Sarri must keep the team in 4-3-3, benefiting possession of the ball and slow attacks, Hamsik being the main responsible for creating and organizing the offensive process. Dries Mertens is the great highlight of Naples, with 16 goals and 6 assists. The offensive sector has been largely responsible for the excellent performance at home, as it scored on average 2.19 goals per game. Mário Rui is suspended, while Ghoulam is injured and can not align in this game.

Udinese:

After 10 wins, 3 draws and 19 losses, the away team is currently in the 13 th position of the league, with 33 points won. In the last match, they have lost in an away match against Cagliari by (2-1), after in the previous match they have lost at home, in a match against Lazio, by (1-2). For the championship, Udinese won 10 points out of 30 possible, after 3 wins, 1 draw and 6 losses in the last 10 matches as a visitor.

For this competition, it registers a sequence of 5 defeats in the last matches as a visitor. In their home league matches the most frequent result at half-time was the 1-0 (6 out of 16 matches). The team has not been very strong defensively, since it has suffered goals in the last 10 games which it disputed in this competition. In 32 matches in this competition, he only managed 2 comebacks in the 20 matches in which he suffered the first goal.

Udinese is going through a very difficult period in the season and at this moment records nine consecutive defeats in the Italian championship. In the last match for this competition, the visitors added a bad result, losing to Cagliari 2-1. The coach Massimo Oddo acts with three players in the defense, five in the center of the field and two in the attack, with Kevin Lasagna being the most fixed offensive reference of the team: this player is the best marker of Udinese, with 9 goals scored. For this game the visiting coach can not count on Zapata, suspended, in addition to Fofana and Behrami, players recovering from injury.