Tomorrow will see Napoli and Udinese face each other for the 83rd time in Serie A. Over the course of these fixtures Udinese have won 17 times, drawn 30 and lost 35. The last time both teams met was on 4 May this year, a 1-1 draw featuring goals from Sandi Lovric and Victor Osimhen. This was the last time Lovric scored in the league, and all of the Slovene’s last five goals have come from within the box.
Both Napoli (90) and Udinese (75) create many goalscoring chances. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (15) and Florian Thauvin (16) have created the most opportunities without scoring. In addition, neither side have had to deal with many shots on target in this current campaign – Napoli nine, Udinese 13.
Jaka Bijol is a key man in Udinese’s rearguard, winning 39 duels, while Lazar Samardzic is the man will be expected to use his talent in order to find space and take some long shots, in what’s set to be a tight game. The Serb has scored five of his last eight goals from outside of the box, including one at the Maradona on 12 November 2022.
Two Napoli players have also featured for Udinese in the past. Piotr Zielinski played 19 times for the club between 2012 and 2014, while Alex Meret rose through Udinese’s youth ranks before making the first team squad in the 2015/16 season.