Wednesday's match against Venezia will mark a special milestone for Udinese as the club's 1800th game in Serie A – a feat achieved by just 12 other clubs in Italy. Our first was over 70 years ago, on 10 September 1950, a 6-2 defeat away to AC Milan. The last 932 (including this one) have been uninterrupted, 20 seasons stretching back to 1995.
Ten of Udinese's first 1,799 top-flight matches have been been against Venezia, with four wins, three draws and three defeats. Udinese have won three of the last four meetings, including the last one at the Stadio Penzo: 2-1 on 10 April 2022.
Kosta Runjaic's side come into his Week 9 fixture on a roll, having won five of their first nine league matches this term (none at the same stage last year). If he were to make it six from ten, the Austrian would become just the third coach to achieve such a record at the start of his reign in Udine, following Massimo Oddo and Andrea Sottil.
Udinese have taken 16 points from their first nine games in 2024/25. Only on three occasions have they managed more after the same number of matches – in 2011/12 (18), 2008/09 (20) and 2022/23 (20).
In the top five European leagues, only Villarreal and Reims have scored more headed goals this season, after Lorenzo Lucca's opener against Cagliari made it five for Udinese.
The big Italian currently leads the Serie A headed goals charts with three, level with Mateo Retegui and Marcus Thuram.
Lucca's tally is partly down to Udinese's crossing efficiency this season: 32% of the team's deliveries have been successful (the most in Serie A), yielding six goals. Down the other end of the pitch, so far they have conceded no goals from crosses.
Udinese's efficiency doesn't stop with crosses: they rank fourth for difference between goals and expected goals, both for and against. They also have the fourth-best chances-to-goal ratio (50%), while Venezia's is 18%.
Hassane Kamara's assist for Lucca against Cagliari was his second in the league this season – Nuno Tavares (Lazio) and Valentino Lazaro (Torino) are the only defenders with more.
Jesper Karlstrom meanwhile has made the third most interceptions in Serie A (13), behind Franck Zambo Anguissa (Napoli) and Marten De Roon (Atalanta).
Florian Thauvin's return to the team against Venezia would be good news for Udinese as his goals have earned more points than any other individual in Serie A: five from his three scored.
Francesco Zampano is the only potential 'ex' on the pitch on Wednesday: the Venezia full-back made six appearances for Udinese between January and June 2018.