Serie A

Frosinone vs. Udinese, fight for survival

Frosinone host Udinese: the winning side remains in Serie A TIM, a draw may not be enough for Udinese

It all comes down to the final 90 minutes: Frosinone and Udinese fight for survival at the Stirpe. Two of the three potential results favour the Ciociari who could also stay in Serie A TIM with a defeat if Empoli (-2) fail to beat Roma. Udinese will be safe with a win or a draw if Empoli (-1) don’t beat Roma. If Cannavaro’s side are to lose, their fate will be further tied to the result at the Castellani Computer Gross Arena. Empoli are a point behind and will send the Friuliani down with a win over Roma, or to a relegation playoff should the sides draw. If the Tuscans lose, the table remains the same and the Bianconeri will stay in Serie A TIM regardless.

DID YOU KNOW?

Frosinone could avoid relegation for the first time in their Serie A history; in their two previous top-flight campaigns they finished 19th in the table in both 2015-16 and 2018-19. Udinese have drawn the most matches this season in the big five European leagues (19); furthermore, only twice in the history of Serie A has a team finished the season with more draws: Udinese in 1982-83 (20) and Mantova in 1966-67 (22). Frosinone are the team that have the lowest average age among players used, including substitutes, in Serie A in 2023-24 (24 years and 247 days) while Udinese have the fourth-lowest (26 years and 28 days), with Lecce second (25 years and 74 days) and Bologna third (25 years and 115 days).

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Udinese are unbeaten in four of the five matches against Frosinone in Serie A (W2 D2), the Gialloblù’s only win was in March 2016: 2-0 at Matusa. Furthermore, in the five matches between Frosinone and Udinese in Serie A the same result has never been repeated in successive games: a draw in the reverse fixture (0-0). Both Frosinone and Udinese have won one game each at the home of the Gialloblù in Serie A; a win for the Gialloblù in March 2016 (2-0) and a win for the Bianconeri in May 2019 (3-1).

PLAYERS

With a goal in his last match against Monza, Walid Cheddira equalled the record of most goals by a Moroccan player in a single Serie A season (7, level with Achraf Hakimi in 2020-21). Furthermore, since the beginning of March 2024, no player has scored more goals than Cheddira in Serie A (5, level with Scamacca, Pulisic and Gudmundsson). Lazar Samardzic has scored in his last two league matches and has never found the net in three games in a row in Serie A; the last Udinese midfielder who scored in three consecutive league appearances was Rodrigo De Paul between December 2019 and January 2020.

DISCIPLINE

Suspended: none Cautioned: Mazzitelli, Okoli, Oyono, Soulé, Zortea (Frosinone); Bijol, Ehizibue, Ferreira, Giannetti, Kamara, Success, Thauvin (Udinese)

REFEREE

Doveri (Alassio-Colarossi) IV: Maresca, VAR: Di Paolo, AVAR: Paterna (Photo Getty Images)