Match Preview Roma vs Udinese

The Serie A TIM fixture, AS Roma vs. Udinese Calcio, kicks off at 19:45 (GMT+1) on Matchday 5, Thursday, September 23 at the 70,634-capacity Stadio Olimpico.

Preview Roma Serie A, Sep 23, 2021

Preview AS Roma picked up a 3-2 defeat to Hellas Verona on Matchday 4 at the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi. Lorenzo Pellegrini (36') put Roma in the lead with a stunning goal, styled as a reverse side-footed flick, before Antonin Barak (49') restored parity after the break. Minutes later, Gianluca Caprari (54') had Verona in front, but an own goal by Ivan IIic (58' O.G.) appeared to have salvaged a point for Roma. But three minutes after the hour mark, a remarkable 20-yard volley from Davide Faraoni (63') carved both sides apart and left Roma with the first defeat of the season: WWWL. The club dropped to 4th place after the defeat, leaving Napoli as the only side in the league with a 100%-win record. With 9 points after 3W, 0D, & 1L, a victory over Udinese will move Roma into 2nd place if either 3rd-placed AC Milan or 2nd-placed Inter Milan fail to win during the week. AS Roma have 11 goals (2.75 g.s.p.g) but conceded 5 times (1.25 g.c.p.g), which leaves the club with a G.D. of +6. José Mourinho aims for a win to help him forget Sunday's defeat at the hands of Hellas Verona. AS Roma have won their last four league games on home turf, scoring 12 goals in total. A victory over Udinese would leave Roma with five consecutive home victories, last seen in 2017, under Eusebio Di Francesco. A 4—2—3—1 formation with Tammy Abraham leading the attack is expected against Udinese, while Stephan El Shaarawy could make an off-the-bench appearance. El Shaarawy has scored five league goals against Udinese, his second-highest tally against a single side in the Italian top-flight division, behind the seven netted against Chievo.

Preview Udinese Serie A, Sep 23, 2021

Preview Spanked across every blade of grass, Udinese suffered an embarrassing 4-0 defeat to Napoli in front of the home crowd. Abysmal in the final third, and drowned in blue waves of attack, Udinese had only one shot on target in what became their first defeat of the season: DWWL. The club dropped to 8th place after the defeat and were left with 7 points after 2W, 1D, & 1L. Six goals after four games leaves Udinese with an average of 1.5 goals scored per game. With six in the net, Le Zebrette has an equal number of goals conceded per game. Quick to scratch off the defeat from his mind, Luca Gotti aims for at least a point. The last time Udinese won a league game against a side in the top-four was in July 2020, against Juventus. Since then, they have drawn three and lost eight (3D, 8L). Luca Gotti could emerge with the 3—5—2 which could see Pussetto and Gerard Deulofeu in attack.