Troost-Ekong, William
Masina, Adam
The penultimate round of Serie A fixtures sees Salernitana entertain Udinese at Stadio Arechi on Saturday afternoon.
With two matches remaining, Salernitana and Udinese find themselves in the bottom half of the table, although both sides have already secured their top-flight status for another campaign.
After avoiding relegation by a solitary point last term, Salernitana have kicked on this season. Indeed, the Garnets sit nine points clear of the drop zone ahead of the penultimate weekend, having adapted to the demands of Serie A.
Paulo Sousa’s men head into Saturday’s clash on the back of impressive results against two clubs with European ambitions. Following a 1-0 victory over Atalanta, Salernitana recorded a 2-2 draw with Roma in the capital on Monday.
Although the Campania outfit have drawn nine of their last 13 matches, they have only suffered one defeat in that sequence, so Salernitana will fancy their chances of notching another positive result when Udinese come to town.
Udinese find themselves seven points above Salernitana after registering three wins more and conceding 14 goals fewer than Sousa’s side, although the Little Zebras have struggled for consistency in recent weeks.
Following back-to-back defeats against Fiorentina and Lazio, Udinese have lost five of their previous nine matches, picking up two wins and two draws in the process.
On top of that, Andrea Sottil’s men have lost each of their last four away games without scoring a single goal. Having lost eight of their previous 11 away league outings – collecting two wins along the way – Udinese’s struggles on the road are clear for all to see.
The Little Zebras will be hoping that top scorer Beto can transform the team’s away-day fortunes on the penultimate weekend, as the Portuguese striker has netted 10 goals this term. However, Gerard Deulofeu, Enzo Ebosse, Isaac Success and Kingsley Ehizibue are expected to miss Saturday’s clash due to injury.
Salernitana’s danger man is Villarreal loanee Boulaye Dia, who has chalked up 16 goals and six assists this season. In terms of injury news, the hosts look set to be without Federico Fazio and Diego Valencia this weekend.
It is worth remembering that Udinese and Salernitana played out a goalless draw earlier in the season, meaning that both teams have claimed one victory across the three Serie A meetings between the two sides.
That said, Udinese secured a dominant 4-0 victory when they visited Stadio Arechi last season, so the Garnets will be out for revenge this time around.
Serie A fans in the UK can watch the match on BT Sport 5.
Expert Insight: Given that Salernitana have drawn nine of their previous 13 games, Saturday’s clash is destined to be a tight affair. Granted, Udinese head to Campania on the back of four successive away defeats, but the visitors will be confident of picking up a point at Stadio Arechi.
Serie A