Udinese will take on Roma for the 99th time in Serie A on Sunday. The club’s record stands at 23 wins, 51 defeats and 24 stalemates. When the sides met last season on 16 April, the Giallorossi registered a 3-0 victory, which went some way to avenging the 4-0 defeat to Udinese in the reverse fixture when Destiny Udogie, Lazar Samardzic, Roberto Pereyra and Sandi Lovric all got on the scoresheet.
That crushing result was notable as it was Lovric’s first goal for the club, while Pereyra added to his goal with an assist. Another scorer that day, Samardzic, is the midfielder who has completed the most dribbles this season on 24. French midfielder Florian Thauvin could make his 300th appearance in the top five European leagues on Sunday if he is selected to face Jose Mourinho’s side.
Udinese are currently on a six-game unbeaten run, while Gabriele Cioffi has picked up four wins and three draws from his last seven away matches in the dugout. No other coach has registered more successes (five) in their first 13 fixtures on the road.
The players will need to be focused right up until the final whistle on both sides. Two of the last three goals conceded by Udinese came in the final ten minutes, while Roma could become the first team in Serie A history to score four goals in a row in stoppage time after the 90th minute, having notched one against Monza and two at home to Lecce.