Preview: Udinese vs Palermo - prediction, team news, lineups

Udinese and Palermo will face off in their Coppa Italia round-of-16 encounter at the Blue Energy Stadium on Tuesday.

The hosts enter this contest off the back of a 3-0 defeat to AC Milan in their last league outing, while Palermo earned a 2-0 victory over Bari in Serie B.

Match preview

Palermo earned a place in the round of 16 following a 2-0 win over Serie B outfit Carrarese, courtesy of goals from Arthur Atta and Iker Bravo.

Last season, the Udine-based outfit were dumped out of the competition at the same stage after a 2-0 loss to Inter Milan.

The Little Zebras have struggled in this competition, failing to progress beyond this stage since the 2013-14 season, when they reached the semi-finals before being eliminated at the hands of Fiorentina.

Despite suffering a heavy defeat in their last league outing against AC Milan, which handed down their first loss of the campaign, Kosta Runjaic’s men have been in decent form, winning three and managing a draw in their previous four matches across all competitions.

The home side will go into this match in confidence, as they have won their last two meetings against Tuesday’s opponents by a 7-2 aggregate scoreline.

Meanwhile, Palermo have had a very good start to the season, going unbeaten in Serie B after four matches, winning three and claiming a draw in their first four fixtures of the campaign.

Last season, the visitors were eliminated in the second round by Napoli after they suffered a 5-0 annihilation, but they will harbour hopes of achieving a bigger milestone in the competition this term.

And given their impressive start to the season, Filippo Inzaghi’s men will fancy their chances of progressing to the next round of the competition.

Ahead of this encounter, their confidence will be further boosted by the fact that their defence has not been breached in three competitive matches, while they have scored four goals in that time. Nevertheless, they have conceded nine goals in their last five competitive meetings against Udinese.

Udinese Coppa Italia form:

Udinese form (all competitions):

Palermo Coppa Italia form:

Palermo form (all competitions):

Team News

Udinese have a few injury issues ahead of this contest, meaning that Runjaic will have to make changes to his team.

Goalkeeper Daniele Padelli is sidelined with a knee injury, and he will not be considered for this fixture, as he will be out until the end of September.

Similarly, centre-forward Vakoun Issouf Bayo is undergoing treatment for a knee injury, and he will not be involved in this encounter.

Slovenian midfielder and vice captain Sandi Lovric is currently dealing with a muscular problem, which will rule him out of Tuesday’s clash.

For the visiting side, Alfred Gomis is recovering from a broken arm, and he is not expected to be in the manager's plans for this fixture.

However, the absence of Gomis should not be a problem, as Jesse Joronen should continue between the sticks for the away side.

Udinese possible starting lineup:

Sava; Zemura, Solet, Kristensen, Ehizibue; Ekklenkamp; Karlstrom, Zarraga; Atta; Davis, Bravo

Palermo possible starting lineup:

Joronen; Bani, Pierozzi, Ceccaroni; Augello, Ranocchia, Segre, Gyasi, Brunori, Palumbo; Pohjanpalo

We say: Udinese 2-0 Palermo

Both sides have decent chances of progressing to the next round of this competition, considering the form in their respective leagues. However, while Palermo seems to have the better form going into this fixture, Udinese are better equipped to win this encounter. Therefore, we are backing Udinese to claim a 2-0 win.

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