Preview: Udinese vs. Cremonese - prediction, team news, lineups

Cremonese seek back-to-back Serie A wins for the first time since December as they travel to mid-table Udinese in Sunday’s penultimate round.

After a chaotic week that affected every team’s preparation, all 10 fixtures will be held on the same day, with La Cremo’s visit to Bluenergy Stadium taking place simultaneously with that of their relegation rival Lecce.

Match preview

Cremonese boosted their survival prospects with a 3-0 success over already relegated Pisa last weekend, with Marco Giampaolo’s men exploiting the Nerazzurri’s ill-discipline to secure the win.

In a match expected to be tight despite their opponents having already lost top-flight status, Giampaolo’s team benefitted from Rosen Bozhinov and Felipe Loyola receiving red cards en route to a 3-0 success, marking the Violini’s biggest victory of 2025-26.

Jamie Vardy scored for the first time since January, Federico Bonazzoli has now netted open-play goals in consecutive rounds after a six-match run without one and David Okereke found the net for the first time in nearly two months to add some gloss to the final score.

With Lecce losing 1-0 to Juventus, Cremonese enter gameweek 37 just one point from safety, though they may need another win in the campaign’s final rounds to leapfrog the Lupi.

However, the Lombardy outfit have fallen to eight defeats in their nine away matches in 2026, defeating only Parma 2-0 during that period, and have since failed to score in subsequent losses to Cagliari (1-0) and Napoli (4-0), highlighting the uphill challenge facing the visitors ahead of Sunday’s trip to Udine.

Kosta Runjaic has done well to keep this weekend’s hosts motivated, even though they are effectively playing for nothing aside from a healthy league finish.

The 10th-placed Friulani are fourth in the form table, having accrued 10 points from the previous five rounds, claiming wins over out-of-form AC Milan (3-0), Torino (2-0) and Cagliari (2-0).

Last weekend’s win over Cagliari means that Runjaic’s team have now kept clean sheets in consecutive rounds for only the second time this season, the first of which came during a three-game run against Genoa (2-0), Como (0-0) and Milan.

Now aiming to match that recent run, the hosts will hope to leverage the fact they have not lost to their Lombardy-based visitors since an August 1996 Coppa Italia defeat, even if only three fixtures have been played between the sides since.

Udinese’s unbeaten league run in this fixture goes further back to 1985, a 41-year record they look to preserve against Sunday’s struggling away side.

Udinese Serie A form:

Cremonese Serie A form:

Team News

Kingsley Ehizibue is suspended for one game due to an accumulation of cards, while Jurgen Ekkelenkamp (leg) and Alessandro Zanoli (knee) are certainly sidelined.

Branimir Mlacic will be assessed after playing just 54 minutes before going off injured against Cagliari last weekend, potentially meaning a change at right centre-back for the Udine-based hosts.

Top-scoring Keinan Davis returned to the side with an assist after missing three games, taking him to 14 direct goal involvements this term, and the forward could add to his 10 league strikes on Sunday.

Vardy was back among the goals for Cremonese in last week’s win over Pisa, taking his tally for the season to six, more than every teammate except Bonazzoli, who needs one more to hit double digits.

The relegation-threatened visitors are without Federico Baschirotto due to a hamstring issue, while Martin Payero, Faris Moumbagna, Romano Floriani Mussolini and Giuseppe Pezzella will undergo assessment ahead of Sunday’s trip to Udine.

Udinese possible starting lineup:

Okoye; Bertola, Kristensen, Solet; Zemura, Karlstrom, Piotrowski, Atta, Kamara; Zaniolo, Buksa

Cremonese possible starting lineup:

Audero; Terracciano, Bianchetti, Luperto, Golino; Barbieri, Maleh, Grassi, Vandaputte; Bonazzoli, Vardy

We say: Udinese 2-0 Cremonese

Udinese’s home form in Serie A is far from encouraging — they have won just two of their last five and six from 18 overall — but Cremonese’s form on their travels is awful.

Having lost all but one of their nine away matches in 2026, another defeat could be in the offing in Udine despite their desperation for points.

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