Udinese host Serie A leaders Inter on Saturday evening at the Stadio Friuli in round 16 of Serie A action.
The Zebrette come into the match on the heels of a resounding 3-0 defeat at the hands of Fiorentina. Udinese have encountered a roller coaster campaign thus far this season and currently sit in 13th place on 18 points.
Inter meanwhile currently sit atop of the Serie A standings on 33 points, one ahead of Fiorentina. Inter bounced back from their defeat at Napoli with a 1-0 victory last week against Genoa.
Inter come into the match with the best defence in Serie A, having conceded just nine goals so far this season. Udinese have had trouble defending this campaign and even though Inter have struggled to score regularly this season the likes of Mauro Icardi and Stevan Jovetic will be licking their lips facing a side that have conceded 20 goals in their first 15 Serie A games.
Last season both games between the two sides ended 2-1 and on both occasions it was the away side who came out on top. Inter won 2-1 in Udine thanks to goals from Mauro Icardi and Lukas Podolski with Udinese having two players sent off in front of their own fans. Udinese did however win at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza with goals from Bruno Fernandes and Cyril Thereau securing the three points.
Roberto Mancini will be without the services of Danilo D’Ambrosio who is suspended. Davide Santon is set to be evaluated before the match due to an ankle injury. Felipe Melo, Gary Medel and Geoffrey Kondogbia will also be assessed before the game, who are all recovering from injuries.
Udinese coach Stefano Colantuono will be left without Duvan Zapata, Thomas Heurtaux and Alexander Merkel because of injury. Suspended for the encounter are Danilo and Felipe.
Form Guide: Udinese (D-L-W-W-L) Inter (W-W-W-L-W)
Expected Starting XIs:
Udinese: Karnezis; Wague, Danilo, Felipe; Widmer, Edenilson, Badu, Lodi, Iturra; Thereau, Aguirre.
Inter: Handanovic; Juan Jesus, Miranda, Murillo, Telles; Guarin, Medel, Brozovic; Perisic; Icardi, Ljajic.
