Udinese will host Juventus on Sunday evening to raise the curtain on their 2023/24 Serie A campaign. It will be the 50th league meeting in Friuli between the two black-and-white teams, with six wins for Udinese, 14 draws and 29 defeats from previous encounters.
Our last home victory against the then-Italian champions was on 23 July 2020, when goals by Ilija Nestorovski and Seko Fofana overturned Matthijs de Ligt's opener in a 2-1 success.
This will be the fifth time Udinese and Juventus have faced off on the opening day. Previous meetings have yielded one win, two defeats and a draw on the most recent occasion, in 2021/22, when Roberto Pereyra and Gerard Deulofeu helped Udinese fight back from 2-0 down to finish the game 2-2.
Udinese showed a resilient streak last season, earning 19 points from losing positions – the second highest number in Serie A after Bologna (20 points).
Andrea Sottil's emphasis on his players tracking opponents in the box paid off with Udinese conceding the fewest headed goals in the 2022/23 campaign – just three, on a par with Napoli and Lazio.
However, Juventus could test that aerial solidity on Sunday as they scored the second most headers last term.
Marley Ake could face his parent club at the weekend. The French winger made four Serie A appearances for Juventus in 2021/22.