Udinese will face Como on Monday for the 20th time in Serie A history. Of the last 19 matches played against each other, Udinese have come out on top ten times, with the remaining nine games consisting of four Como victories and five draws. Udinese finished half of these games without conceding.
Just one of Como’s victories has come in the last eight Serie A games between the two clubs (3-1 at the Sinigaglia in November 1986). The most recent head-to-head between the two sides was on 1 September 2024 at the start of the season, and saw Udinese win 1-0 at Bluenergy Stadium. The last game at the Sinigaglia was on 18 December 2002 when Udinese won 2-0 by forfeit.
Udinese are going into Monday’s match with three consecutive draws and haven’t had a streak of four consecutive draws since October 2023. Unbeaten in their last four Serie A matches (which also happened in the first four matchdays of the season), a win or draw would allow the club to equal their five-streak unbeaten run achieved in the final few matchdays of the 2023/24 season with Fabio Cannavaro in charge. With seven wins under their belt so far this season, an eighth win would be the club’s second-best record at this point in the season since 2013.
Udinese have only lost one match out of 15 played on a Monday and since the 2022/23 season have gone unbeaten when playing on the first day of the week.
Kosta Runjaic’s men have scored six goals from corners, the most in Serie A this season, while Como have conceded five in the same way. Only Venezia have conceded more. Udinese have also scored nine goals from crosses (only Inter and Atalanta have scored more) compared with only one Como goal scored from a cross. Como have conceded five goals from counterattacks (only Roma have conceded more), while Udinese are still yet to concede in this way. Neither of the two teams have scored any penalties and they are the two teams that have conceded the most penalties (5) after Venezia.
Lorenzo Lucca will be back from suspension and with just one goal he could equal his goal tally from last season. The Udinese number 17 is second to only Marcus Thuram in Serie A for difference between goals scored and expected goals – 7 goals from 3.9 xG. Florian Thauvin is one assist away from 50 in the top five European leagues and has already equalled his record in terms of goals and assists last season. Udinese forward Brenner scored his first and only Serie A goal in the first match of the season against Como.
Runjaic and Cesc Fabregas have only met once before during the first fixture in September.