AC Milan vs Udinese

While their more-glamorous counterparts are in the lower ranks in terms of Serie A rankings; AC Milan will look forward to displacing Udinese in the San Siro arena on Saturday.

Milan who lost to Fiorentina in the last match are now two points behind the Friulani – currently on a super form which has made them register four wins in seven games so far.

Indeed, after a second consecutive Champions League defeat, only two days later Milan went to Tuscany for a league match against Fiorentina earlier in the current month where misfortune away from Milan continues.

Following their loss in Leverkusen, the Rossoneri conceded the first goal to on-loan Viola midfielder Yacine Adli against his parent team, and even though Christian Pulisic continued with his scoring spree to level the scores, the Rossoneri were awarded yet another defeat after a 2-1 loss at Stadio Franchi.

That setback disrupted their flow of four Serie A matches without a single defeat, as well as established a certain volatility on the road Therefore, the Napoli are still unbeaten in three league games at home this season.

In fact, their manager, Paulo Fonseca, had seen his side winning their last two without yielding to the opponent’s firepower, which means that the Rossoneri might now be serving up a clean sheet three home matches in the trench since mid-February this year, something that would possibly mute the former Arsenal coach’s critics.

As critics remain keen on pointing out his side’s poor ability to defend, Fonseca cannot afford another stumble this week, as Milan would be recording five losses in their first ten games in all competitions – such occurrence has only happened twice in the past eight decades.

Hence, a repeat of the enthralling 3-2 victory of the last season would ease pressure on the Rossoneri’s Portuguese strategist, Vitor Pereira.

Of course, the current position of Udinese will be different and they will want to achieve the same result as during their previous encounter with Milan – 1-0 in favor of the hosts in November last year.

After a very tight run with relegation last season, a team now led by Kosta Runjaic would continue their incredible start to the season by defeating the Rossoneri on the road for the first time ever.

Going all the way back to Udinese's victorious battle to stay in Serie A, they have won six of their past ten league games, which is equal to the total number of wins over the preceding 46, and Runjaic has been in charge for four of those games.

That, along with a couple of Coppa Italia wins over second-tier opponents, makes for a fantastic start to his tenure at Udine, where Jordan Zemura's late free kick helped the Friulani defeat Lecce in their most recent match.

Prior to their matchup this weekend, they were above of the formidable Milan and in fifth place with 13 points, only three points behind the top-seeded Napoli.

Milan manager Paulo Fonseca will have to make at least one change to a very stable team since flying full-back Theo Hernandez must serve a ban after being sent off against Fiorentina deep into stoppage time.

Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic will undoubtedly play in the last third, and Tammy Abraham and Alvaro Morata will either fight for a spot or, more likely, team up in an assault.

With three goals apiece so far this season, French forward Florian Thauvin and Italy forward Lorenzo Lucca have been Udinese's most productive players.

With three goals and an assist, the latter has essentially won his club six points; in the Italian top division, only Leao has completed more dribbles (16) than Thauvin (13) does.

He and midfielders Martin Payero and Sandi Lovric have returned to action after a brief absence, but Alexis Sanchez will have to wait a little longer to make his second appearance for the Friulani because of a calf issue.