Kosta Runjaic’s future at the Bluenergy Stadium could be in jeopardy when his downtrodden Udinese side take on Serie A giants Milan on Sunday evening. Both sides will be desperate to add to their cause, albeit for different reasons.
After a promising start to the season (1G, D1), Udinese’s form has fallen off the cliff. Runyaic’s men have lost five league matches in a row and are currently level on points with Fiorentina in 18th place, while also continuing their worst losing streak since 2018 when they lost 11 in a row.
Needless to say, Runjaic has had a rough go despite keeping Udinese from relegation in both of his seasons in charge of the Friulian club. Finding a way out of this stressful losing run has become imperative for the German coach, who oversaw a 3-0 win over Milan at the San Siro last season.
Meanwhile, however, things have changed dramatically for the Rossoneri. Ruben Amorim, who replaced Massimiliano Allegri in the summer, is unbeaten in Serie A this season (4, D3), with Milan entering the tour as one of four teams still unbeaten in Italy’s top flight.
However, the 19-time Italian champions recovered from another tough European night as they were thrashed 3-0 by Bournemouth in a midweek Europa League encounter. In Amorim’s defence, he refused to field his best starting XI at the Vitality Stadium, so fresh legs could help Milan get back into the win column on Sunday.
Match preview
Udinese
Udinese’s decline began in September with back-to-back defeats to Milan’s top-four rivals Inter Milan and Lazio. While the Friulians could be forgiven for squandering a two-goal lead in a 5-3 defeat at the Giuseppe Meazza, last weekend’s 3-0 home loss to Lecce was a bitter pill to swallow for the perennial mid-table tenants.
However, given Udinese’s notorious struggles at home, Lecce’s victory did not come as a huge surprise. Runjaic’s men have won just one of their last nine league matches at the Bluenergy Stadium (D2, L6) and can hardly expect to challenge that abysmal record here against Milan, at least based on their last encounter in Udine.
The hosts have lost their last three home league matches against the Rossoneri, conceding at least three goals each time. The picture gets even murkier when you consider Udinese’s dreadful six-game losing streak going into Sunday’s Serie A games.
Milan
Things have gone badly for Milan in the Europa League, where they have lost two of their three matches without scoring (W1). However, the visitors can be assured of a decent start to Serie A under Amorim as they look to open a new top-flight season with an eight-game unbeaten run for the third time in 20 years.
On a positive note, Milan have only lost three away league games since the start of last season (W12, D8). However, they have shared the spoils in three successive Serie A outings and managed to draw in four away league games for the first time since 2017. “Rossoneri”, who are already four points away from the leader of the table, “Inter”, will want to avoid unwanted success here.
A little more urgency from the start would have helped. Still, 10 of Milan’s 14 goals in the league this season have come after the hour mark, suggesting patience could be the key to unlocking Udinese’s defence. This is especially true when you bring into the equation that they have scored zero goals in the first half of the away league.
Team News
Udinese lost star defender David Alaba to injury in Austria’s Serie A opener last weekend, with the former Bayern Munich and Real Madrid ace joining Wacoun Bayo and Idrissa Gueye in the treatment room. However, Nicolo Zaniolo is finally back in the lineup after injury, although Keinan Davis should lead the line for the home side.
Milan have Alexis Saelemaekers, Matteo Gabbia and Samuel Chukwueze on their relatively short injury list, whose absence could prompt the deployment of Diego Moreira as Amorim’s right-back. Goncalo Ramos, who did not travel to England with the rest of the team on Thursday, should regain his place in the attack.
“Udinese” – “Milan” potential starting teams
Udinese (3-4-2-1): Okoye; Bertola, Solet, Ebosse; Voivoda, Karlstrom, Piotrowski, Kamara; Eckelenkamp, Gomez; Davis.
Milan (3-4-2-1): Maignan; Tomori, De Winter, Pavlovic; Moreira, Musah, Modric, Bartesaghi; Rabiot, Pulisic; Ramos.
Udinese – Milan
Udinese’s rotten patch puts Milan firmly in the driver’s seat, but the Rossoneri’s ability to drop points on the road should not be taken lightly. Nevertheless, the visitors could not have asked for a more favorable opportunity to put Thursday’s heartache behind them.
Prediction: Milan will win
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