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2024/25 Serie A
Matchday 8
AC Milan v Udinese
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza
Milan, Italy
Saturday, 19 October 2024
Kick-off is at 18h00
AC Milan will target a return to winning ways in
Serie A when they welcome Udinese to the San Siro on the evening of Saturday, October 19.
Paulo Fonseca has made a lukewarm start to his tenure in Milan, winning three of his opening seven matches at the helm and picking up 11 points out of a possible 21.
The Rossoneri will be looking to bounce back from a 2-1 defeat at Fiorentina on October 6 which halted a run of three consecutive victories and left them two points outside the top four in sixth place.
Udinese are soaring under Kosta Runjaic, who took over the reins from Fabio Cannavaro in the off-season, and find themselves level on 13 points with Juventus (3rd) and Lazio (4th) in fifth position.
The Little Zebras arrested a two-game losing streak with a 1-0 win over Lecce on October 5 to lift them above Torino and Milan in the standings.
In team news, the hosts must do without Theo Hernandez, who is suspended after picking up a red card against La Viola. Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Davide Calabria (both muscular), Ismael Bennacer (ankle), Alessandro Florenzi (ACL) and Marco Sportiello are also unavailable, while Samuel Chukwueze is rated doubtful. The game comes to soon for Udinese trio Thomas Kristensen, Martin Payero (both muscular) and Alexis Sanchez (thigh).
Fonseca felt his players could have done more to prevent both goals against Fiorentina and admitted their failure to convert two spot-kicks didn't help matters.
"I think we have done well with this structure so far, it's not that Fiorentina created too many opportunities. We lacked aggression in the first half, their first goal was too easy," he told DAZN.
"It was clearly a problem of aggression, of duels, I told the players. I think that when we miss two penalties, and then concede a goal like the second one, it's difficult to win even when you create so many opportunities."
Runjaic believes Udinese are making strides and is hopeful of maintaining their good home record after winning three of their opening four matches at the Bluenergy Stadium.
"We wanted to be strong at home this season and we're on the right track there. We played well against Inter too. I hope we can keep up this sort of home record going forward - that would help us be consistent this season," he said.
Head-to-Head (Last Five Serie A Meetings)
Matches - 5
AC Milan wins - 2
Udinese wins - 2
Draws - 1
Serie A Matchday 8 fixtures:
Saturday, October 19
15h00: Como v Parma
15h00: Genoa v Bologna
18h00: AC Milan v Udinese
20h45: Juventus v Lazio
Sunday, October 20
12h30: Empoli v Napoli
15h00: Lecce v Fiorentina
15h00: Venezia v Atalanta
18h00: Cagliari v Torino
20h45: Roma v Inter Milan
Monday, October 21
20h45: Verona v Monza
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