Serie A Match of the Week: AC Milan vs. Udinese

The opening fixture of the new Serie A season should be a great one as reigning champions AC Milan welcome Udinese to the San Siro to kickoff their title defence.

Stefano Pioli’s side have impressed in their preseason and are coming off a massive win in a preseason friendly this past week after dispatching Vicenza 6-1, Milan look to be coming into the form that led them to win their first Scudetto in over a decade.

Milan did some decent business in the transfer window picking up Divock Origi from Liverpool on a free, while also splashing $35 million on talented Belgian attacking midfielder Charles De Ketelaere from Club Brugge.

They will also an improvement in the midfield as Tommaso Pobega made great strides while on loan to Torino, as he should come in and fill a hole where the outgoing Franck Kessié would be.

For Udinese, finishing in 12th last season is rather disappointing for a team which frequently finished in the top half of the Serie A and qualifying for European competitions during the early 2010’s has now seen them finish no higher than 12th since 2013/14, they will be looking to try and push for a top half finish this season.

It has been a managerial carousel in Udine since 2014 as new manager Andrea Sotil becomes the 13th man in charge of the club in the that time and the former Ascoli manager will be making his first push as a manager in the top flight of Italian football this season.

The last time these two teams met back in February to a 1-1 draw at the San Siro with Portuguese phenom Rafael Leão netting for the Rossoneri early before budding starlet Destiny Udogie equalised in the 66th minute.

Expect Milan to come out flying for this game as if their preseason fixtures were any example of what should come from them this season, the Rossoneri will be a very lethal team to deal with.

Score Prediction: 3-1 Milan