Udinese and Monza have met only four times in Serie A, with one win for the Friulians and three draws. The only match not ending in a stalemate was their first Serie A meeting, a 2-1 win for Udinese on 26 August 2021 in Monza. Overall, six of their last seven league clashes have ended level, including their most recent meeting, a 0-0 draw on 3 February at Bluenergy Stadium. Monza’s last victory against Udinese was on 10 December 1978 in Serie B (1-0). This fixture is set to be played on a Monday, a day when Udinese have lost just one of their last 13 matches, a 2-1 home defeat to Inter last April.
Udinese go into the game with the league’s joint-highest number of headed goals this season (six along with Atalanta). Monza, meanwhile, have conceded the most headed goals (seven), while Udinese are yet to concede any. Udinese also lead the league in terms of goals scored from corners: four out of 16 or 25%. The match pits two of the league’s best aerial players against each other in Lorenzo Lucca and Milan Djuric. Lucca has scored six headed goals in Serie A since the start of last season, while the Bosnian has seven to his name.
Lucca scored his first Serie A away goal against Monza in the 1-1 draw on 29 October 2023 at the U-Power Stadium. Sandi Lovric also scored against Monza in the 2-2 draw on 8 April 2023. For Monza, watch out for Gianluca Caprari, who has provided an assist in each of his last five matches against Udinese, and Stefano Sensi, who has netted three goals against Udinese, more than against any other opponents. Two Monza players previously plied their trade in Udine: Pablo Mari played there from January to June 2022 and Semuel Pizzignacco, was at the club in 2017/18. The match will be refereed by Gianluca Manganiello, who officiated Udinese’s 2-0 win against Cagliari on 25 October earlier this campaign.