Tomorrow Hellas Verona and Udinese lock horns for the 40th time in Serie A history, and the head-to-head record couldn’t be closer. Each side has won 12 games apiece, while the other 15 have ended all-square. Since 2015 Udinese have kept seven clean sheets against Saturday’s opponents, their joint-best track record when facing any other Serie A side in the same period, having also achieved shut-outs on seven occasions against Genoa and Sassuolo. However, Hellas have scored ten goals in their last five games against the Zebrette.
Udinese sit second in the league for dribbles completed (283 out of 598 attempts, a success rate of 47.3%), only behind Milan. Roberto Pereyra and Lazar Samardzic know all about their opponents this weekend. Tucu is up against his favourite victim of the league, having netted three times against Hellas. As for Laki, he has been involved in more goals against them than any other team since he moved to Italy – three – claiming one goal and two assists in four previous matches.
Lorenzo Lucca also performs well when he sees yellow and blue. The centre forward scored his only multiple goals in Serie A in the first encounter this season, claiming a brace on 3 December 2023. Meanwhile, Nehuen Perez could feature in his 100th match across the five major European championships (85 with Udinese in Italy and 14 with Granada in Spain). Marco Silvestri has played for both sides, spending three seasons with Hellas Verona (2017/18 and then from 2019 to 2021), racking up a total of 71 appearances.