AC Milan vs. Udinese Odds, Predictions & Betting Tips
Ahead of a crucial Champions League second meeting with PSG, Milan must first steer through a visit from relegation-threatened Udinese in Saturday's 7:45pm Serie A televised fixture on TNT Sports 1.
The hosts have gone three games without a win, losing to Juventus before PSG ran through them in the Champions League, followed up by avoiding three straight defeats with a 2-2 draw at Napoli. Milan's two league defeats have come at the hands of the division's top two teams in the standings, and they are rightfully expected to cruise through Saturday's match at odds of 12/25.
Seemingly gone are the days of a competitive Udinese team. However, despite back-to-back 12th placed endings and 10 consecutive bottom half finishes in Serie A, I Bianconeri are troublingly looming close to the top flight drop zone. Gabriele Cioffi's men hover above the bottom three on goal difference alone, and if they aren't careful, could be playing Serie B football almost thirty years removed from the most recent time Udinese were promoted from the second division.
AC Milan vs Udinese Tips
AC Milan To Win To Nil
It's difficult to get onboard with backing Milan at such a short price, so we've opted for them to win to nil which carries us from 2/5 to 29/20 with BetVictor.
Milan have won seven of their 10 outings in Serie A, keeping six clean sheets across all competitions this term - half of which have come inside their six most recent fixtures.
On the flip side, Udinese are in serious danger of facing the drop, failing to win a single league game, drawing seven and losing three. Their three defeats are all against teams who pose an obvious threat and who are expected to win the encounter - Napoli, Juventus and Fiorentina - with two of those doing so to nil.
Saturday's visitors have managed a lowly six goals from 10 matches, a dismal tally only outmatched by Empoli's three. All of the evidence points to not only a Milan victory, but a stylish win by Stefano Pioli's side in front of their own fans.
Udinese Over 10.5 Shots & Over 2 Goals in the Match
We may feel Udinese will ultimately continue their downward trajectory with another loss against Milan, but we don't feel that they will go down with a whimper. In fact, their matches this season suggest that they won't fear Saturday's opponents.
The White and Blacks have had 11 or more shots in 10 of their 12 fixtures this term, successfully hitting this line in matches with Juventus, Fiorentina and Napoli, where they struck 18, 20 and 13 respectively.
Although Milan have a decent defensive record, they aren't impenetrable. Verona and Cagliari, two teams in a similar predicament to Udinese, had 10 and 16 shots against them, which when considered alongside this weekend's visitors registering 14 in a 3-1 win over this opposition in March, we're confident they will have a number of opportunities in and around the Milan 18-yard box.
In addition to this shots line, we're backing three or more goals to be scored in the match. Both of last season's meetings, including the 4-2 job Milan did on them at the San Siro, were in excess of the required tally. There hasn't been a goalless draw between the pair since 2011, with 12 of their head-to-heads finishing with over 2.5 goals.
