While the Brianzoli have not tasted success since October and were turfed out of the cup in midweek, their visitors from Friuli have gone five games without a victory and are slipping down the standings.
Match preview
After making numerous changes to his lineup on Tuesday evening, Monza coach Alessandro Nesta watched an unfamiliar XI getting picked apart by a recently revived Bologna side, conceding twice in each half to crash out of the Coppa Italia.
Two of the Brianza club's three wins all season have come in the cup, and with just one success in Serie A since Nesta took charge, time could be running out on his reign.
With just 10 points on the board so far, Monza are surely set for a season-long survival fight, having comfortably secured mid-table finishes in both previous top-flight campaigns following their groundbreaking promotion two years ago.
Though Gianluca Caprari's spot kick earned them a share of the spoils with local rivals and fellow strugglers Como last weekend, the Biancorossi have now won just one of their last 23 league matches and are stuck in a downward spiral.
Among teams still in Serie A, Monza have been waiting the longest for a home win - 11 matches - and they are averaging below one goal per game this term.
Their next strike will be the club's 100th in Italy's top flight, and Nesta will be desperate for them to reach or even surpass that milestone on Monday evening.
Monza have lost only one of their seven home games between Serie A and Serie B against Udinese....Six of the last seven league matches between Monza and Udinese have ended in a draw
Udinese.....have faced at least four times in the last three Serie A seasons (since 2022/23) without ever losing... the Friulians have one win and three draws against the Brianza team in the period.
Udinese have lost four of their last five away games in Serie A, although they drew in their most recent game (1-1 against Empoli)
Udinese, along with Atalanta, are one of the two teams that have scored the most headed goals in this Serie A season (six for both), while Monza are the team that have conceded the most goals using this technique in the current tournament (seven).
play Inter Milan in Coppa....soon...
Monza Serie A form:
D
L
L
L
D
D
Monza form (all competitions):
L
L
L
D
D
L
Udinese Serie A form:
W
L
L
L
D
L
Team News
Full size image here
Alessandro Nesta's side, who travelled to the Stadio Dall'Ara without Daniel Maldini, Roberto Gagliardini, Matteo Pessina and Alessio Cragno.
Udinese is the team against which Gianluca Caprari has provided the most assists in Serie A: five, one in each of his last five games as a starter against this opponent in the competition. Since Opta began collecting this data (since 2004/05), no player has found at least one assist in more consecutive games as a starter against a single opponent (five also for Luis Alberto against Bologna)
Monza possible starting lineup:
Lineup here
Udinese possible starting lineup:
Lineup here
We say: Monza X-Y Udinese
Written by
Jonathan O'Shea