Good afternoon! Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for today's Serie A encounter between Udinese and Inter Milan as both sides look to close the gap on the runaway top three in the division.

We'll start by looking at our hosts today, who come into this match in rather inconsistent fashion. Three wins and three losses in their last six games is not good enough form to push for a European spot, although Udinese will be hoping to build on their last outing, which saw them beat Sassuolo 2-1.

Udinese come into this match sitting eighth in the table having picked up 13 points from their opening 10 games - winning four, drawing one and losing five of those matches. They will still have aspirations of reaching Europe, although the Champions League already looks to be beyond realistic aims, but to do so they will have to work on closing the six point gap that separates them from fifth place, which is currently occupied by their opponents today.

It is easy to see where Udinese have had problems so far this season - they simply haven't scored enough goals. They have found the net just 11 times in their opening 10 matches, a tally which is the worst in the top 12 of the table.

It is also easy to see where today's hosts aren't having as many problems this season. Their home form has been exemplary so far, with just one league defeat in their five matches in front of their own fans. That defeat came to perfect Roma as well, so there is no shame to be had there. That defeat was also the only time that they have been beaten at home in the league for the past 22 matches, so this is something of a fortress for Udinese.

Roma also feature heavily in looking at Inter's form this season, as they are the only team to have beaten Walter Mazzarri's side so far. Inter have established themselves as a very tough team to win against, but drawing matches has been their main problem in the current campaign.

They have been forced to share the spoils with their opponents four times already this season - including in their last three away matches. Five wins and that solitary defeat gives them 19 points from their opening 10 games, but that still only puts them fifth in the table, nine points behind the final Champions League place currently occupied by Juventus.

Inter do have a chance to close that gap back to six today, however, and move into the top four in the process. They began the weekend in fourth but were sent down a position courtesy of Fiorentina's win over Inter's great rivals AC Milan yesterday.

While scoring goals has been something of a problem for Udinese, the same accusation cannot be levelled at Inter. Mazzarri's men are the joint highest scorers in Serie A with 24 goals from their 10 matches, a tally only Roma and Napoli can match, Napoli having played a game more.

Goals are all well and good, but without results they become fairly meaningless, and Inter need to ensure that they see games out. In three successive draws away from home - against Cagliari, Torino and Atalanta - they have led the match but not been able to go on and win it. Still, they remain unbeaten on their travels so far this season, with an impressive 15 goals from their five games so far, although those statistics are boosted by their 7-0 thrashing of Sassuolo in September.

TEAM NEWS: The team news is in for both sides, and the good news for the visitors is that Handanovic has recovered from injury in time to start the match. Inter make two changes, bringing in Saphir Taider and Andrea Ranocchia, while the old-timer Javier Zanetti returns to the bench after a lengthy lay-off with an Achilles injury. Udinese, meanwhile, make three changes to their side. Full team news for both teams coming up.

UDINESE STARTING XI: Brkic; Naldo, Danilo, Domizzi; Widner, Badu, Allan, Pereryra, Gabriel Silva; Muriel, Di Natale

UDINESE SUBS: Bubnjic, Ranegie, Mlinar, Lopez, Jadson, Lazzari, Kelava, Fernandes, Merkel, Heurtaux, Zielinski, Benussi

INTER STARTING XI: Handanovic; Ranocchia, Samuel, Juan Jesus; Jonathan, Taider, Cambiasso, Alvarez, Nagatomo; Guarin; Palacio

INTER SUBS: Zanetti, Andreolli, Kovacic, Castellazzi, Mudingayi, Kuzmanovic, Wallace, Carrizo, Pereira, Rolando

The dangermen for both sides can be found leading the line. For Udinese, the evergreen Di Natale can come up with something special at any point to change a game, while Rodrigo Palacio for Inter is in fine goalscoring form and will be keen to add to his tally this afternoon.

PREDICTION: We're nearing kickoff here, which means that it is time for my match prediction! This one is quite a tough one to call today as both sides could realistically walk away with the win. Inter have found wins hard to come by of late, but they are also a very tough team to beat. Udinese, meanwhile, have been hit and miss so far this season so it could depend which Udinese team turns up today. I think it will be a draw today, so I'll go for 1-1.

Udinese did the double over Inter last season, so they could take a psychological advantage going into this one. The last meeting saw today's hosts win 5-2 at the San Siro, while the corresponding fixture here last season ended 3-0 to Udinese.

KICKOFF: Davide Massa blows his whistle to get the game underway, and it is Inter Milan who kick us off. This should be a very intriguing 90 minutes.

Badu makes an early promising break down the right flank, but his end product is disappointing and comfortably cleared away by Cambiasso. Good, fast start from both teams.

Inter have an early free kick in a good crossing position with Cambiasso standing over it. His delivery is nowhere any of his teammates, but Brkic takes a bit of a risk in allowing it to fly over his head and behind for a goal kick as it wasn't too far away from finding the top corner there.

The rain is falling inside Satdio Friuli, which is making for a really zippy surface which should allow some fast football today. It will also increase the possibility of mistakes as the surface and ball become increasingly slippery.

Muriel almost bundles his way into a good position, but after somehow getting past two players Walter Samuel stops him in his tracks and hacks the ball away.

That is a truly dreadful pass from Jonathan which wastes a promising attack. Palacio had done really well to track back and win the ball in midfield before making a clever run in behind the defence. Jonathan had the right idea in trying to find him, but his execution was woeful.

UPDATE: There are three other games going on in Serie A right now, and the first goal from the 2pm kickoffs has gone the way of Hellas Verona, who lead Cagliari 1-0 courtesy of a Luca Toni header.

We're still waiting for our first real chance in this match, but it has been played at a good tempo so far. Both teams do look eager to get into the opposition final third whenever possible, they just can't find a way through the defence at the moment.

Muriel whips a ball into the box looking for Di Natale towards the back post, but Handanovic comes out to claim it before it can reach the Italian.

Udinese look a little uneasy at the back there as Alvarez manages to get in behind the defence before pulling it back towards Palacio. The ball eventually reaches the striker after a failed clearance and he tees up Cambiasso, but the pass forces the midfielder to stretch for his shot and, as such, he can't direct it on target.

Superb defending from Naldo as he tracks Palacio, blocks his shot and then keeps the ball in before clearing the danger. It was a lovely pass into the striker from Alvarez, but Naldo was on hand to sweep up.

SAVE! Inter are beginning to look a lot more dangerous here. Jonathan sees his shot blocked on the edge of the box and the visitors eventually work it back to Cambiasso. The veteran midfielder is not closed down as he goes for goal, and it takes a good one-handed stop from Brkic to tip it over the bar.

CHANCE! Oh what a chance for Inter to take the lead! Jonathan disguises a clever pass into Nagatomo, who has made a good run towards the corner of the six yard box. The ball is on his weaker side but he still goes for goal, only to slice his effort wide from close range. He should have done a lot better there, that was the best opening of the game so far.

UPDATE: Sampdoria have taken the lead against Sassuolo in their match, with Nicola Pozzi breaking the deadlock with a fine header.

Inter are very much in the ascendancy at the moment and Udinese can't get out of their own half. Inter are controlling the ball and look pretty comfortable at the moment. They are also beginning to create more chances and look most likely to break the deadlock here.

Just call me Nostradamus. Inter take the lead through star striker Palacio, who has the simple task of flicking his header from a fine free kick into the far corner past a helpless Brkic. That goal had certainly been coming.

Decent response from Udinese in the immediate aftermath of the goal as they hold onto the ball for longer than they have at any point in the last 10 minutes or so. They are also making headway inside the Inter half, but there hasn't been anything to worry the visitors' defence so far.

Once again, Udinese are undone by a high delivery into the box. Brkic tries to be positive this time and comes a long way for the ball, but he gets nowhere near it and Ranocchia is waiting for it to drop to smash his volley into the unguarded net. It is a superb finish from the defender, but that is a real howler from the keeper. If you're going to come that far for it, you simply have to claim the ball.

Badu makes good progress down the right and looks for Di Natale with a square ball into the box. A touch just takes it away from the striker, while Jonathan just does enough to deny Muriel a chance at the back post.

It has been another good response from Udinese, but last time I said that they conceded shortly afterwards! The crowd are certainly beginning to get a bit restless, with boos rolling down from the stands when their side carelessly lose the ball now.

Guarin goes for goal from range, trying to bend his shot into the top corner. It is a highly ambitious effort and is never troubling the keeper as it flies high and wide. That was a waste from the Colombian.

CHANCE! That is a really good chance for Udinese to get themselves back into this match. Samuel makes a dreadful mess of an attempted clearance which allows Muriel to race through on goal. He has Di Natale in the middle but chooses to go for goal himself, only to fluff his effort out for a throw-in. Dreadful finish.

INTER SUB: Samuel looks to have injured himself during that botched clearance and he won't be able to continue. He slowly walks off the field to be replaced by Rolando.

Muriel attempts to lead a quick break after an Inter corner and does well to skips past one challenge to move into the opposition half. Another defender comes across and Muriel's control eventually lets him down as a heavy touch allows the visitors to clear.

Handanovic has a similar moment to Brkic's early, coming for a ball and getting nowhere near it. Thankfully for the Inter keeper, his mistake doesn't lead to a goal as an Inter head does get to it, conceding another corner.

Domizzi gives the ball away again in a very dangerous area, something that he has done too often in this first half. Taider picks it up and goes for goal from around 25 yards out, but his effort is easy for Brkic to collect.

The ball ricochets around on the edge of the Udinese box, with a number of Inter players trying to take it under control and get a shot away. However, none of them can quite get it to sit up right and eventually the ball is hacked clear.

There will be two minutes of additional time at the end of this half.

So far so good for Inter Milan, then. Two goals in the space of four minutes have given them a bit of breathing space at the end of a largely comfortable opening 45 minutes in which Udinese have struggled to create anything in attack. As things stand, Walter Mazzarri's side will move back into the top four, and it would take a drastic change in the performances of both sides for that to change.

The goals came from Rodrigo Palacio and the rather more unlikely source of Andrea Ranocchia in the 25th and 29th minutes respectively. The opener was a good header into the bottom corner after a fine delivery from a free kick, while the second was an even better finish as Ranocchia hammered the ball in on the volley, although he was given a big helping hand by Brkic coming and not claiming the ball.

Having struggled for wins on their travels recently, Walter Mazzarri will be delighted with that first half. His side have controlled the match for the most part and certainly deserve their lead. They are playing like they are the home team at the moment and look very comfortable with the lead.

As far as Udinese are concerned, it is hard to see how they put together a 22-match unbeaten streak at home before their loss to Roma last weekend. They have really not threatened Handanovic's goal enough and the Inter defence have been very rarely troubled by the front two of Di Natale and Muriel. They have been disappointing so far, and the fans have let them know it.

The hosts have had one good chance when Muriel was one-on-one with the keeper from close range. He skewed his effort out for a throw, however, and the chance only came about through a Walter Samuel error rather than any good play from Udinese. Samuel had to go off after that mistake, but he will be happy that it didn't lead to a goal that could have allowed Udinese back into this match.

For the most part, though, the goalmouth action has come around Brkic's goal. In addition to their two goals, Inter had a really good chance with the score at 0-0 when Nagatomo was played in by Jonathan, but it was very much a defender's finish as he sliced his shot past the near post.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if Francesco Guidolin made a change at half time, because something needs to be done to spark some life into the Udinese side. They have simply not threatened and, if they put in a similar performance in the second half, then they don't stand a chance of fighting their way back into this match. As things stand, a defeat would leave them nine points behind fifth place which, even at this stage in the season, is a big gap to close.

KICKOFF: We're back underway in the Stadio Friuli. Udinese restart the match as they look to haul themselves back into contention this afternoon. They will need to significantly improve if they are to do so.

SAVE! That is more like it from Udinese. Di Natale finally gets a chance to weave his magic in the final third as he produces a lovely side-step on the edge of the box to make space to shoot. His effort takes a slight deflection on the way through, which makes Handanovic's fine save even more impressive as he tips it over the bar.

This has been a much brighter start to the half from Udinese, so look eager to get a goal as early as possible. They needed to make a fast start, and they have done that well.

UPDATE: Sassuolo have turned their game against Sampdoria around in the space of two-second half minutes. Domenico Berardi has scored twice in that time, the latter from the penalty spot after Andrea Costa was shown a red card for his foul.

Muriel has just looked a little slow and unsure in possession whenever he has had the ball today. The latest example sees him delay a pass longer than necessary, which allows the defence to get back and make the interception. Had he given the ball earlier, Udinese would have been in a very promising position.

Inter are struggling to get out of their own half at the moment, which is something of a role reversal from the first half. Udinese are in control at the moment, but they need to force the issue here if they are to get rid of this two-goal deficit.

CHANCE! This is by no means an easy chance, but it is a decent sight of goal for the hosts. Inter fail to deal with a corner and it bounces in a dangerous area. Domizzi goes for a spectacular bicycle kick but can't connect with it well and it goes wide.

UDINESE SUBS: Double change for the hosts, one of which is enforced by injury as Di Natale limps off to be replaced by Mattias Ranegie - a big blow for Udinese. Pereyra also trots off as Bruno Fernandes enters the fray.

Really good plat from Guarin as he beats his man on the right before flashing a ball right across the face of goal. It eludes a number of players in the box, including Brkic and, perhaps vitally for Udinese, Palacio.

In fact, Brkic got a very important touch to that cross into the box which took it out of Palacio's path. That is some fine keeping as, without the interception, Palacio would have had a simple finish.

OFF THE POST! More fine play from Guarin as he shows great acceleration to beat Domizzi from a standing start. He hammers his shot towards the bottom corner from a tight angle, only to see it bounce back off the foot of the post.

UPDATE: Sassuolo now have a two-goal cushion against ten-man Sampdoria as Antonio Floro has made it 3-1. They could be moving out of the relegation zone soon enough if they can keep this up.

Udinese will be bemoaning the absence of Di Natale even more now as Domizzi is brought down in a very good position on the edge of the box. If you could pick and choose where to have a free kick from, it wouldn't be too far away from here...

Muriel is the man to step up and take it, but his curling effort is too high. It gets over the wall easily enough but the Colombian couldn't get enough dip on the ball to trouble Handanovic.

SAVE! Handanovic is called into action this time as Fernandes does well to find space on the edge of the box before drilling a low shot towards the bottom corner. Handanovic gets down well to make a smart stop, holding onto the ball for good measure.

INTER SUB: Jonathan seems to have pulled a hamstring in a challenge a few moments ago, and he won't be able to continue here. Alvaro Pereira comes on in his place.

UDINESE SUB: Muriel hasn't had his best match this afternoon and it is no real surprise to see him go off, even with Udinese looking for goals. He is replaced by Uruguayan youngster Nicolas Lopez.

Lovely play from Alvarez has he jinks past his man before playing in Pereira down the left. The sub puts a good delivery into the box for Palacio to attack, but the striker is always stretching for it and can't steer his header on target.

UPDATE: Some good news for Udinese is that Lazio, who are currently one place above them in the table, are now 2-0 down at home to Genoa. Verona have also taken a 2-0 lead against Cagliari, so they will join Juventus in the top five on 22 points if things stay the same.

YELLOW CARD! The first card of the match comes with just 15 minutes to play as Ranocchia goes in with a high foot on Silva. More worryingly for Inter, Udinese have a free kick in a very good position here.

My word, that is an ever worse effort than Muriel's earlier! The ball is touched off to Danilo, who presumably has the intention to drill it powerfully into the top corner. Instead, he completely slices his effort and it ends up being a throw-in behind where the free kick was taken!

YELLOW CARD! Pereira becomes the second player in the book for a foul on Badu. Once again, that is probably the right decision from the ref, and the Inter sub doesn't seem to have many complaints.

Ranocchia draws the ire of the crowd with a dramatic fall a while after the initial tackle took place. However, his reaction is fully justified as that is an undoubted case of bad cramp, judging by the look on his face. We've all been there.

INTER SUB: Marco Andreolli comes on for Ranocchia, who is really struggling with that cramp. It is a disappointing end to the game for the defender, but he will treasure that first-half volley for a while I'm sure.

UPDATE: Incredibly, the 10 men of Sampdoria have fought back against Sassuolo and are now level at 3-3. Goals from Eder and Lorenzo De Silvestri have restored parity in that match.

Udinese get another free kick in a good position on the edge of the box, this time for an Alvarez foul on Badu. The hosts have to come up with something soon, and this could be a good chance to get themselves back into this match.

It is a disappointing effort from the set piece again as the strike hits the wall. Eventually the ball is put back into the box, but Ranegie's header is poor and easy for Handanovic.

Udinese began this half well but they really haven't had the urgency that should accompany being 2-0 down. At the moment, they haven't shown any sign of stopping this match meandering out as an Inter win.

Poor from Badu as he has a good chance to put the ball into the box from a dangerous position with teammates waiting in the middle. Instead, though, he chooses to shoot from an impossible angle and it is no surprise to see his effort sliced harmlessly wide.

YELLOW CARD! Juan is not a happy man as he is shown a needless yellow card for time wasting, which means that he will miss the next match.

That's the game for Inter as they score a third on the break. Palacio out-paces his man down the left and unselfishly looks for support in the middle despite being well placed to go for goal himself. He looks up to see Alvarez in support, and the Argentine has a simple finish to complete a comfortable afternoon for Inter.

The fourth official indicated a minimum of five minutes added time, by the way.

Inter Milan would not have gone into this game thinking that it would be that comfortable for them, but in truth they cruised to a 3-0 victory in the end. They were completely in control in the first half and, although Udinese were slightly better in the second, the hosts still didn't look like getting themselves back into this match. Inter remain unbeaten on their travels this season and move back into fourth in the table.

As for Udinese, this will be a really disappointing result for them. Having gone 22 matches without a loss at home in the league before last weekend's loss to perfect Roma, they would have been looking for a response today. They did not get one, and have now lost two home games on the bounce. This one will hurt a lot more than the Roma defeat, however, as Udinese just didn't look capable of breaking Inter Milan down. They lacked creativity and urgency and deserved nothing from the match.

UPDATE: One quick update from elsewhere in the division this afternoon as Sassuolo scored an 88th minute winner to beat 10-man Sampdoria 4-3. It was Berardi who got the goal from the spot, completing his hat-trick in the process.

Right, that's all we have time for today! Thank you very much for joining Sports Mole for what was a very successful 90 minutes for Inter as they cruise to an impressive 3-0 away win over a disappointing Udinese to go fourth. I will leave you with our match report and be sure to stick around for plenty more live football coming your way throughout the day. Until then, though, it is goodbye from me!