Serie A 2022-23: Udinese vs Napoli: Predicted lineup, injury news, head-to-head, telecast

The race to the Scudetto might be overcome in Gameweek 33 as league leaders travel to the Dacia Arena

The 33-year-old wait for the Partenopei is almost but over to get their hands on the holy grail but Udinese might have some other plans for the visitors. The 13th-placed club in the Serie A table have had an average season and lie stranded in the mid table with 42 points on board after 32 matches.

Although most of their points have come against clubs from the bottom half of the table, The Dacia Arena might work it's voodoo on the visitors with all it's atmosphere and ambience. Udinese crashed relegation bound Cremonese by 3-0 in their last run out in the Serie A with goals from Samardzic, Perez and Isaac Success all in the first half to cap off an impressive win.

Napoli and Luciano Spalletti's celebrations were halted after match with Salernitana was moved to Sunday in order to allow them to properly celebrate their Scudetto success at home last weekend, pushing the game back to after Lazio's clash with Inter, but things didn’t go to plan as Boulaye Dia scored a late equaliser for the Granata, forcing the two teams to share a point apiece as the game ended in a 1-1 draw much to the discomfort of the fans at Naples. Although one hand is almost set on the trophy for The Partenopei, nothing can be taken for granted even though they have a 18 point lead over 2nd placed Lazio.

Kick-Off:

Thursday, 04-05-2023, 06:45 PM (GMT)

Friday, 05-05-2023, 12:15 AM (IST)

Udinese Form (All Competitions): W-L-D-L-W

Napoli Form (All Competitions): D-W-D-D-L

Player to Watch Out

Udinese: Roberto Pereyra

Pereyra is a quick, dynamic, and hardworking player, who possesses notable stamina, pace, crossing ability, and vision, as well as good technique and dribbling skills. He has 4 goals and 7 assists in his name in Serie A this campaign and can be a trouble for Rrahmani and Min-Jae Kim at the Napoli backline.

Napoli: Hirving Lozano

Popularly known as Chucky, Lozano plays primarily as a left winger but can also operate on the right, or as a central attacker. Though this has not been the best of the campaigns by his standards as most of the plaudits were taken by Osimhen and Kvaratskhelia, his burst of pace and agility down the right wing has been of immense value to Luciano Spalletti's tactics.

Match Facts

The last time these two sides met in the Serie A back in November 2022, Napoli emerged victorious by 3-2, with the side from Udine attempting to make a late comeback despite going down by 3 goals within an hour of the match. A thriller in all senses!

There have been reports that the schedule of this fixture can be changed owing to the probable title success of Napoli and celebrations to occur at the home stadium rather than being dispersed throughout the country owing to safety concerns, although no official confirmation has arrived yet.

Injury and Team News

The promising figure of Gerard Deulofeu has been out since the middle of January with a knee injury and he is not expected to return until next season. Isaac Success shrugged off a thigh injury and scored against Cremonese to further dampen the hopes of the relegation threatened side last weekend.

Andrea Sottil has certainly invigorated his midfield as the 3-5-2 formation seems to be panning out well for him. Sandi Lovric and Lazar Samardzic have been among the goals lately which has been a major boost to their upheveal. Enzo Ebosse is also set to miss out for the remainder of the season following a cruciate knee ligament rupture.

The addition of Mathias Oliveira has proved crucial for Spalletti as Mario Rui has been in and out throughout the season. A fibula fracture has kept him out in the recent weeks and he is expected to return in the game against Monza considering a proper fitness test.

Matteo Politano has a distorted ankle injury and is expected to miss out the remainder of the season. Lobotka, Anguissa and Zielinski's partnership in the midfield has been unparalleled and is a major reason for Napoli's success this season. It would be very less if we talk about the goal scoring prowess of Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia and Lozano up front and we expect them to deliver the Scudetto with all the proper amenities this weekend.

Head-to-Head Stats

Matches – 31

Udinese– 5

Draws – 9

Napoli– 17

Predicted Lineup for Udinese vs Napoli

Udinese Predicted lineup (3-5-2): 

Silvestri; Becao, Bijol, Perez; Ehizibue, Samardzic, Walace, Lovric, Destiny Udogie; R. Pereyra; Beto

Napoli Predicted lineup (4-3-3): 

Meret; Di Lorenzo, Rrahmani, Min-Jae Kim, Oliveira; Anguissa, Lobotka, Zielinski; Lozano, Osimhen, Kvaratskhelia

Prediction

Napoli have had the calibre in the recent years and an experienced set of players might prove to be more than enough for them to see them through this fixture and finish their 33 year long wait of achieving the Scudetto. Although Udinese will give it their all, we are predicting it to be a deadlock until the game opens up in the latter stages and the side from Naples blow past Sottil's men.

Prediction: Udinese 1-3 Napoli.

Telecast

India – Sports18, Jio TV, Voot

UK – BT Sport.

US –CBS Sports.

Nigeria – The Sporty Group.