AC MILAN v UDINESE: MATCH PREVIEW

Restarting, resuming the run of games which was interrupted by the away trips to Leverkusen and Firenze, all doing so in front of our fans. AC Milan's season gets back underway and this time it is against one of the best teams in the first two months of the Serie A 2024/25 season, Kosta Runjaić's surprising Udinese side. One match at a time: the goal is to get the three points, as well as climbing back up the table. We approach kick-off at 18:00 CEST with our Match Preview. 

LATEST FROM MILANELLO
The Rossoneri have been with reduced numbers during the past few days of work, given that only a few days ago players involved with their national sides, have started to return from all over the world. Our three weeks of seven games starts against Udinese - between the league and Champions League - in 21 days, rotating the team will be a necessity, and it will be important to keep the injuries to a minimum. Apart from the suspended Hernández, the only other absences will be the long term absentees (Bennacer, Calabria and Florenzi), with the possibility of a call-up for Marco Sportiello. Besides some potential turnover choices, there are two interesting battles: for the role of Theo's replacement, Terracciano is the leading candidate ahead of Bartesaghi, while Okafor might be the preferred choice for the Centre Forward position. 

"Udinese are an aggressive side, that play well and are very motivated. They've had a great start to the season, it'll be an intense and very difficult match, we will need to be at our best levels to win", said Head Coach Fonseca in his pre-match conference. "No player is bigger than the team at AC Milan: everyone has to take responsibility when they make a mistake. At Fiorentina, we didn't have the hunger nor the desire to run further than them. We have to run more than the others, and we haven't done that". 

LATEST FROM UDINESE
After securing survival at the very end of last season, the 2024/25 season couldn't have got off to a better start for the Friulani. They are deservedly in third place in the league (level on points with Juventus and Lazio) which reinforces the idea that they are a tough opponent in a great run of form and results. For the match against AC Milan two important players return, Lovrić and Payero, to make up for a big absence in the form of: Florian Thauvin, a key player until now with three goals and one assist, who won't be there for the clash at San Siro. There is some doubt as to who will play alongside Lorenzo Lucca, the top scorer for the Bianconeri and just having made his national debut. In terms of the rest of the team, nobody is suspended, Atta's condition will be assessed, and he might join the list of long term absentees with Sánchez and Kristensen. 

"AC Milan have two players who are difficult to contain in the form of Leão and Pulisic, we can't afford to give them space to run into and show their speed: we will have to be close to them without making any errors in possession of the ball", as Kosta Runjaić explained on the eve of the clash. "Everyone would love to have two players like this in their team, they're able to make a difference in games and every fan wants to go to the stadium to watch them. We've trained intensely, making the most of the time that we have had". 

PRE-MATCH NUMBERS

• This is match number 99 in Serie A between the two sides: the Rossoneri have won 43 of the previous meetings, the Friulani have won 19 and there have been 36 draws. There's been more balance in the last seven meetings, with two wins each and three draws. AC Milan are unbeaten in 15 of the last 17 games against Udinese at San Siro in the league. 
• The Rossoneri have won their last two league games at home in Serie A (Venezia and Lecce) without conceding and have prevailed in the last three league games that have come after an international break: in the first case it is the longest streak since 2022, in the second, since the period between October 2010 and October 2011. 
• AC Milan have scored with nine different goalscorers in the first seven matches: in the top five European leagues, only Bayer Leverkusen and Nice have a better record. At San Siro, we will see the two sides with most goals from crosses: six for the Rossoneri and five for Udinese. 
• For the first time in Christian Pulisic's career - with Mike Maignan, starting in all of the nine games for the Rossoneri this season - he has scored in four consecutive matches in one of the top European leagues. In the era of three points per win, only five AC Milan have managed to score in five consecutive matches: Giroud, Ibrahimović, Inzaghi, Shevchenko and Weah. 

WHERE TO WATCH AC MILAN v UDINESE
In Italy, the game will be live on DAZN. To watch AC Milan v Udinese from a different country, please consult the 'AC Milan on TV' page. Follow Matchday on Milan TV: the live will begin at 17:15 CEST until kick-off, with the game being followed by the interviews and press conference from Fonseca. Don't miss out on our coverage via acmilan.com, the AC Milan Official App, our official social media channels and WhatsApp.

LATEST FROM SERIE A
Daniele Chiffi will be the referee for this match. The 39-year-old from Padua, an international referee with 98 appearances in Serie A, has officiated ten previous Rossoneri games: the most recent was the match on 23 April 2023, AC Milan 2-0 Lecce. The officials will be composed of linesmen Dei Giudici and Yoshikawa, fourth official Cosso and VAR Mariani (La Penna will be AVAR). 

Matchday Eight of Serie A, which begins the league restart, promises four interesting matches on Saturday: other than AC Milan v Udinese, today (19 October), Genoa take on Bologna while Como face Parma at 15:00 CEST, Juventus take on Lazio at 20:45 CEST. Empoli v Napoli (12:30 CEST) opens the matchday on Sunday 20 October which also features Venezia v Atalanta and Lecce v Fiorentina at 15:00 CEST, Cagliari v Torino at 18:00 CEST and Roma v Inter at 20:45 CEST. The Matchday will finish on Monday 21 at 20:45 with the late game between Hellas Verona and Monza. 

Current standings: Napoli 16; Inter 14; Juventus, Lazio and Udinese 13; AC Milan and Torino 11; Atalanta, Roma, Empoli and Fiorentina 10; Hellas Verona 9; Bologna and Como 8; Parma and Cagliari 6; Lecce and Genoa 5; Monza and Venezia 4.  

Find out more on our new partnership with the New York Yankees!