Betdistrict.com
Fiorentina will have their hands full against a solid and in-form Udinese side, with the hosts trying to come back from a 2-1 first leg defeat and qualify to the Coppa Italia final.
The hosts with a great season up to this date, playing solid football and just 3 points behind Napoli for the 3rd place in the Serie A standings. However, Fiorentina has clearly decreased its form and has struggled a lot recently after losing Giusseppe Rossi due to injury – already having to play without Mario Gomez. Fiorentina`s massive goalscoring ability suffered a blow and Montella had to put more emphasys on defense. “La Viola” has won just once in the last 4 competitive matches, beating Atalanta 2-0 over the weekend. In the last 7 matches they defeated only Atalanta, Siena and Catania, hardly any big scalps.
Udinese only on the 14th place right now in the Serie A, a tough season for them, but the visitors have really stepped up their game recently and are in excellent form with three consecutive wins in all competitions, over Bologna, Fiorentina and Chievo. With both european placements and relegation being out of the question, the Coppa Italia is the highlight of the season for Udinese and this is the match of the year for the visitors, no doubt. Udinese will gain some confidence knowing they managed to win against Milan on the road in the previous round of the Cup.
 |
Bet with the best odds and highest limits at Pinnacle. |
Team news and lineups.
Fiorentina will welcome Mario Gomez back, but it`s highly unlikely he`ll have any impact after the knee injury, having undergone one myself and seeing first-hand many athletes struggling to get it going immediately after recuperating. Tomovic, Hegazy, Borja Valero, Aquilani and Ambrosini are out for Fiorentina. Udinese will welcome three players back from injury and the only absentees are goalkeepers Brkic and Benussi (the last one a fringe player). Of course, both sides will field the best available lineups with the final in sight.
Fiorentina: Neto – Roncaglia, Rodriguez, Savic, Pasqual – Pizarro – Cuadrado, Fernandez, Ilicic, Joaquin – Matri
Udinese: Kelava – Heurtaux, Danilo, Domizzi – Basta, Yebda, Allan, Badu, Gabriel Silva – Di Natale – Muriel
“La Viola” is a top side at home (7-3-1 Serie A) and the better team overall, but I am pretty reluctant to Fiorentina`s chances to overturn the 2-1 deficit and qualify. They are on an obvious downtrend without their two best players, while Udinese (3-1-8 away in Serie A) is in an opposite situation, improving game after game and being arguably in their best possible form. Expect Fiorentina to struggle to create chances against a resilient opponent, while Udine has the quality to hit on the break, with the never aging Di Natale a permanent danger. I feel Udinese is a great underdog here, I like their chances and I trust they can qualify to the final. They`re just more confident and playing at least on the same level like Fiorentina right now. My tip here will be Udinese +0,75 handicap, which would also return us half the stakes if Fiorentina wins by one. I feel it`s the better option overall instead of Udinese to qualify:
Advantages for 0,75: better odds, and 1-0 would still give us half the stakes back. The same for 2-1 with Firenze qualifying in extra time / penalties. Udinese to qualify would be fully lost.
Disadvantages for 0,75: 2-1 with Udinese qualifying in extra time, 3-2, 4-3 results would lose us half the stakes, while Udinese to qualify would be a winner
Pick Udinese +0,75 asian handicap in this one. Predictin: Fiorentina – Udinese 1-1.
Pick: Udinese (+0,75 Asian Handicap)
Odds: 2.19 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 9.52
Event date: 11 February
