On Sunday, Chievo travel to the Stadio Friuli to take on Udinese as eighth takes on 18th, with the Bianconeri already nine points ahead of the visitors in the Serie A standings.
The Zebrette have been impressive at home and won all but two of their six games at the Stadio Friuli, but they did suffer their first home defeat to Genoa when they last took to the field in front of their own supporters and whilst still impressive, their form has plateaued somewhat in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, the Flying Donkeys have been poor on the road and picked up only three points from five away fixtures and they will be keen to break a four game losing streak on their travels.
Udinese went into the international break on the back of a 1-1 draw away in Sicily against Palermo while Chievo picked up a hugely important win at home to Cesena thanks to a Sergio Pellissier brace that helped Rolando Maran pick up his first win as Gialloblu coach.
It is difficult to gauge how the international break could affect the two sides. Peparim Hetemaj, Bostjan Cesar, Valter Birsa and Dejan Lazarevic were the only Chievo players to be called up for their senior national sides so Maran will have had the majority of his players at his disposal on the training ground as he looks to implement his ideas and build upon the Cesena win.
The international break is more likely to have disrupted Udinese as they will have to respond to seven players returning from service with their countries. The entire Bianconeri squad were involved in a fair bit of travelling after heading to Serbia for a friendly on November 15 against Red Star Belgrade that they lost 1-0 at the Marakana.
Greek midfielder Panagiotis Kone didn’t have the best of times either when on international duty after his coach Claudio Ranieri lost his job. Kone then attracted attention for threatening to punch Nemanja Matic after taking exception to a challenge from the Chelsea man before breaking down into tears. However, the Greek is suspended in Serie A and can sit out the fixture against Chievo and look to calm himself.
The home side do have more to work around in terms of injuries. Coach Andrea Stramaccioni will be desperately hoping that key man Antonio Di Natale will be ready to feature against the Flying Donkeys. Influential Swiss full-back Silvan Widmer is unlikely to play while the fitness of Gabriel Silva is uncertain. Colombian attacker Luis Muriel picked up a thigh injury in the friendly defeat against Red Star and will miss the game.
Chievo have been fortunate in terms of injuries and suspensions although forward Riccardo Meggiorini will miss the game through suspension. The Argentine duo of Maxi Lopez and Mariano Izco are expected to be fit and ready for selection.
Expected Starting XIs
Udinese: Karnezis; Pasquale, Danilo, Heurtaux, Piris; Guilherme, Allan, Pinzi; Fernandes; Di Natale, Thereau.
Chievo: Bizzarri; Zukanovic, Cesar, Dainelli, Frey; Izco, Hetemaj, Radovanovic, Izco; Pellissier, Paloschi
