Two sides beaten on the opening day attempt to post their first Serie A point of the new season, as Udinese host Salernitana on Saturday.

While the hosts went down 4-2 to reigning champions Milan, their southern visitors lost at home against Roma despite a positive display.

Match preview

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Though they briefly threatened to spoil Milan's party, upon the Scudetto-holders' return to competitive action, Udinese came away empty-handed from their first league game of the 2022-23 campaign last week.

After Rodrigo Becao stunned San Siro with an early header - the Brazilian defender's third strike against the Rossoneri in his career - it appeared that new coach Andrea Sottil could get off to a perfect start in Serie A, having already progressed in the Coppa Italia.

However, keeping Milan at arm's length is far tougher than knocking little FeralpiSalo out of the cup, and despite Adam Masina's equaliser to make the scoreline 2-2 at the break, Udinese were ultimately beaten by the better side.

Having rallied to finish 12th last term, the Fruilani remain a selling side, content to stay clear of relegation without really threatening the European places, but in addition to some intriguing arrivals in the transfer window, they have managed to keep Destiny Udogie at the club for one more year.

Destined for the Premier League next summer, Udogie can now play his part in helping Udinese's attempt to stop a three-game losing run at home in Serie A - on each occasion, they lost by a single-goal margin.

An excellent opportunity presents itself this weekend, as the Bianconeri have won three of four previous matches against Salernitana in the top flight. However, their only defeat came in the clubs' most recent meeting in April.

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Including that success last time they travelled to Udine, as they battled to retain their Serie A status, Salernitana are still on their best unbeaten away streak in Italy's top tier.

The Salerno side defied the odds to survive relegation in May, having narrowly avoided expulsion from the league due to ownership issues just a few months earlier, and now seek to secure a third straight season among the elite.

As Davide Nicola's men finished with the lowest points tally ever to escape demotion since the start of the three-points-for-a-win era, the Granata surely need to improve this term, but their opening fixture garnered no points despite a plucky performance.

Beaten 1-0 by Roma at Stadio Arechi, Salernitana were previously dumped out of the Coppa Italia by Serie B side Parma, so Nicola will now hope to kick-start his team's campaign at the Dacia Arena.

More familiar with life outside the top flight, the Campanian club have lost both of their first two Serie A fixtures in two of their three previous Serie A seasons - the only exception was as long ago as 1947-48 - so precedent is certainly not on their side this weekend.

Team News

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After being denied one of his star players on the opening day, Andrea Sottil will have Destiny Udogie back in his squad on Saturday, after the Italy Under-21 international missed Udinese's trip to Milan as he completed the formalities of a move to Tottenham.

Back on loan for the season, Udogie could feature on the left side of the hosts' familiar 3-5-2 formation, but Adam Masina scored at San Siro in his absence and will hope to start again.

As ever, Gerard Deulofeu provides the Bianconeri's main attacking threat, after scoring 13 goals in Serie A last season, with Isaac Success and Beto vying to partner the former Watford man up front.

Salernitana saw their attacking options reduced by the exits of Ederson and Milan Djuric over the summer, but 39-year-old Franck Ribery remains at the club, Norwegian forward Erik Botheim scored 15 goals in the Eliteserien last season, and veteran winger Antonio Candreva offers width following his switch from Sampdoria.

The latter made his Serie A debut for Udinese back in 2008, and he has since scored five times against this week's opponents - only versus another former club, Inter, has he netted more.

Davide Nicola has indicated that new signing Domagoj Bradaric and Serbian midfielder Ivan Radovanovic should return from injuries that caused them both to miss the visit of Roma, and the former could now feature on the visitors' left flank.

Udinese possible starting lineup:
Silvestri; Becao, Nuytinck, Perez; Ebosele, Pereyra, Walace, Makengo, Udogie; Deulofeu, Success

Salernitana possible starting lineup:
Sepe; Gyomber, Fazio, Bronn; Candreva, Vilhena, Maggiore, Koulibaly, Bradaric; Botheim, Bonazzoli

We say: Udinese 2-1 Salernitana

Udinese scored nearly twice as many goals as Salernitana last season, and started this term by netting twice away to the champions. Still bedding in several new recruits, the visitors are unlikely to match their hosts when it comes to fluency in the final third.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Written by
Jonathan O'Shea

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