Udinese and Cagliari are set to face each other for the 56th time in Serie A. Udinese’s record against the Sardinians stands at 27 wins, 16 draws and 12 defeats. This means that the club have beaten them on more occasions than any other side, joint with Atalanta. Although the game from the first half of the season ended 0-0 Udinese tend to score many goals against Cagliari – on six occasions Udinese have scored four or more times, the last occasion being on 3 April 2022, with Beto grabbing a hat-trick and Rodrigo Becao and Nahuel Molina also among the goals.
The hosts have scored 40 goals in 18 games against the visitors this century, an average of 2.2 per match. Following their 0-0 draw against Monza and their wonderful 1-0 away win over Juventus the Zebrette have a chance to pick up their third consecutive clean sheet. This seems feasible with Lautaro Giannetti in the side, who featured in all of these fixtures and scored the winner in Turin.
A repeat of Monday evening's great performance can also be expected from team-mates Thomas Kristensen, who made six clearances against Juventus, and Nehuen Perez, who has made more headed clearances than any other Udinese player. The front line have performed well in recent games and now the aim is to capitalise on chances created. Florian Thauvin (55) is second in Udinese’s ranking for balls played inside the opponent's penalty area, behind Lorenzo Lucca (60).
Three players will be facing their former employers. Marco Silvestri debuted in the top flight with Cagliari, making three appearances in April and May 2014. Meanwhile Simone Scuffet debuted in Serie A for Udinese and featured 40 times for the club between 2014 and 2021. Jakub Jankto also used to play in Friuli, making 55 appearances for the club, scoring nine goals and providing nine assists.