Sunday will mark the 88th Serie A match between Udinese and Napoli. The record currently stands at 37 wins for the Azzurri, 18 wins for Udinese and 32 draws. However, Udinese won in their most recent clash (1-0 at Bluenergy Stadium in December) and scored in 13 out of 14 of their last games. Should the visitors win this time as well, it would be their first victory in Naples since the 2010/11 season, when they won 2-1 in the reverse fixture of that season. Their second goal was scored by the club’s current Technical Director, Gokhan Inler. Last season, on the other hand, the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
Last Sunday, Udinese suffered only their second defeat in their last eight matches, in which they conceded five goals and kept a clean sheet in five games. Udinese are behind only Juventus and Milan in successful dribbles per match (9.5) and are tied with Roma as the team with the most won duels in their own half of the pitch (61.8%). Napoli have won their latest game but have lost two out of three of their past home games. The Azzurri are just one point away from mathematically securing second place in the table. Napoli are the third-best team (behind Milan and Cagliari) in terms of gaining points from losing positions (13) and have the second-highest number of goals from outside the box (10 goals), only behind Inter. However, they are also the team with the most penalties awarded against them (10).
Arthur Atta truly thrives on away matches, as he has scored three goals in Udinese’s last three away games. Another player who gets fired up against Napoli is Jurgen Ekkelenkamp: he scored both in the reverse fixture last season and in the first half of this season. The record between Kosta Runjaic and Antonio Conte is perfectly balanced: their three competitive encounters ended with one win each and one draw. The only player who has been at both clubs is Alex Meret, who rose through the ranks of the Udinese Academy from 2012 to 2016, along with Alessandro Zanoli (17 Serie A appearances for Napoli between 2021 and 2024), who is however out due to an injury.