Posted on Saturday, 11th February 2012 by Sumeet Paul

A struggling Milan side travel to on Saturday evening hoping to inflict a first home defeat of the season on Francesco Guidolin’s side. With ten wins and a draw so far this campaign, the Zebrette are a daunting prospect at Fortress Friuli. Danilo returns from suspension and is likely to replace Damiano Ferronetti in the three-man defence, Giampiero Pinzi (calf) is ruled out along with Kwadwo Asamoah and Badu who remain on international duty at the African Cup of Nations. Antonio Floro Flores picked up a slight groin strain in training this week and is doubtful.

Milan remain just a point behind Juventus despite their recent troubles, but will now face the next three games without the suspended Zlatan Ibrahimovic after his slap on Salvatore Aronica last Sunday. Mark Van Bommel is also absent through suspension, while it is unlikely Alessandro Nesta or Christian Abbiati will return from injury in time. The lengthy injury list shows no sign of any immediate relief, although Kevin Prince Boateng and Alexandre Pato resumed light training this week. Ignazio Abate is expected to return to the starting line-up after an ankle knock, while Stephan El Shaarawy is expected to start after scoring against Juve in mid-week.

Probable Line-ups:

Udinese (3-5-2): Handanovic, Benatia, Danilo, Domizzi, Basta, Isla, Pazienza, Fernandes, Armero, Abdi, Di Natale

Subs; Padelli, Coda, Ferronetti, Pasquale, Battocchio, Torje, Floro Flores

Milan (4-3-1-2): Amelia, Abate, Mexes, Thiago Silva, Mesbah, Emanuelson, Ambrosini, Nocerino, Seedorf, Robinho, El Shaarawy

Subs; Roma, Bonera, Zambrotta, Antonini, De Sciglio, Maxi Lopez, Inzaghi

Form Guide:

Udinese: LWLWL

15/01/12 – Genoa 3-2 Udinese

22/01/12 – Udinese 2-1 Catania

28/01/12 – Juventus 2-1 Udinese

01/02/12 – Udinese 2-1 Lecce

05/02/12 – Fiorentina 3-2 Udinese

Milan: DLWWL

15/01/12 – Milan 0-1 Inter

22/01/12 – Novara 0-3 Milan

29/01/12 – Milan 3-0 Cagliari

01/02/12 – Lazio 2-0 Milan

05/02/12 – Milan 0-0 Napoli

Top Scorers:

Udinese:

Di Natale – 16

Basta – 4

Milan;

Ibrahimovic – 15

Nocerino – 7

Assists:

Udinese;

Armero – 9

Di Natale – 5

Milan;

Aquilani – 7

Cassano – 6

Head-to-Head:

21/09/11 – Milan 1-1 Udinese

22/05/11 – Udinese 0-0 Milan

09/01/11 – Milan 4-4 Udinese

12/02/10 – Milan 3-2 Udinese

23/09/09 – Udinese 1-0 Milan

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Author Sumeet Paul  (53 Posts)


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